Welcome to 2 minutes of self-gentleness with Femke.
Sometimes someone offers you something gentle,
A compliment,
A moment of care.
Someone who is saying to you,
You don't have to be so hard on yourself.
And instead of receiving it,
Something in you just deflects.
You change the subject,
Or you accept the words,
But you do not really let them in.
I notice this in myself.
I notice it in almost everyone I work with.
We often more practice at receiving criticism than care.
The care,
The gentleness of someone catches us off guard.
It doesn't fit the story that we have been telling about ourselves.
So self-gentleness is,
Among other things,
A slow practice of widening your capacity to receive from other people absolutely,
But most fundamentally from yourself.
And if this feels strange,
That strangeness is not a sign that you're doing it wrong.
It's a sign you've been doing without it for a long time.
You are allowed to let it in now,
Even just a little,
Even just here.
So here are some affirmations for you.
You can repeat them after me,
Or just listen to my voice.
I am learning to receive.
Gentleness towards myself is not something I have to earn.
I can allow something gentle in.
The care I offer to others is also mine to have.
I am allowed to be moved by my own tenderness.
I open just a little to myself.
I am the most important person to consistently deserve my own gentleness.
Now sit with this for a moment,
And come back to this any time you feel you need a reminder.
