Being gentle with yourself means cultivating a loving and supportive relationship with your entire being – mind, body and spirit. It means treating yourself with kindness and honoring your needs, regardless of outside opinions and judgements. Being gentle with yourself is a practice that you can strengthen every day – the following 5 tips can help.

1. Allow your feelings to run their course

We’re the only known species who can think about our thoughts as they’re happening. And this means that we can intentionally add fuel to our thinking fires. We can latch onto how we feel with such intensity that we don’t give our feelings time to run their course without our interference. To be gentle with yourself means to make room for a troubling thought, a feeling of regret, complex feelings about your body, your purpose, your life.

2. Embrace the power of AND

The word and allows for two different thoughts, opinions, ideas and feelings to coexist without one being better than the other. The word and implies, “I know I can do this and I need a break.” Or, “I want to reach my goals and I’m discouraged.” Or, “I love my family dearly and I need a solo vacation.” This little word reminds you that you’re human and it helps you be gentler with yourself by making room for your human dualistic experience.

Try this! Start saying and when speaking to yourself and see how it softens the tone of your thoughts and experiences.

3. Keep it simple

When you’re feeling down or discouraged, ask yourself what would make a difference in the moment? Keep it simple. Your answer doesn’t have to be groundbreaking – the goal is to think of something small that you can do in the moment to change your situation. Being gentle with yourself means simplifying your efforts for doing the next best thing to care for yourself.

4. Decide not to decide

You don’t have to know all of the answers right now. If you’re unsure of what to do next, set it down and come back later when you feel that your energy has shifted. Deciding not to decide is a way to be gentle with yourself by removing the pressures of making a decision.

Stay accountable! Set a date for when you plan to revisit your decision.

5. Listen to your body

Your body is communicating with you in subtle ways every single day. A gentler approach to how you nurture your body requires that you listen to your body. Start by noticing how a no feels compared to a yes and honor that feeling, even when it changes daily. When you listen, you make more emotionally sound and balanced decisions: how to respond to a comment, what to eat to feel your best, how to move to ease aches and pains, etc.

Are you looking for ideas to be gentle with yourself? Download my eBook with 75 Little Ways to Practice Self-Care.