Although the months of July and August in various industries and vocations often bring us much-needed holiday time, summer can also bring its share of stress, anxiety and emotional pain.
As I’ve discussed in my blog and enewsletter in recent years, the American psychologist Kristin Neff has been a pioneer of self-compassion–the belief that we should extend the same compassion and care we’d show to a good friend towards ourselves, especially when we fail at work, look and feel inadequate, and are dogged by emotional pain. When we recognize (and do not resist) our suffering, we can begin to treat ourselves with warmth and compassion, rather than harsh judgment.
The American platform “Calm” shared recently that “self-acceptance is a mental health superpower.”
If you’re finding that the supposedly halcyon days of summer bring you emotional pain, consider reading (and applying) Neff’s insights in her foundational books, Self-Compassion, and Fierce Self-Compassion. And if reading isn’t accessible or possible where you are, please consider visiting the blog postings and newsletter resources on calm.com, which include exercises and strategies influenced by psychologists, meditation experts and healers of many kinds. (Full disclosure: I am not an affiliate of calm.com and receive no fees for recommending their resources.)
These are genuine alternatives to the “doomscrolling” we so often lapse into, torturing our broken minds for hours, trying to wrest health out of our unhealthy phones and portable devices.
Happy summer, good readers. May you accept and be kind to yourselves this season and after, especially when life feels harsh.