Be Your Own Best Friend

To come home to yourself, you must cultivate self-awareness through a deep sense of being a friend to yourself. That is, you need to befriend yourself.

Though, if you are a trauma survivor, befriending yourself may not be so easy. In fact, it can be downright challenging. And, that’s ok. As you begin your healing journey, you will come to a point when it is necessary to reconnect with yourself, both body and mind.

It may seem impossible now, but learning to be mindful can really help with this. For instance, engaging in compassion-centered meditation a few times per week, accepting praise and compliments from yourself - and others, as well as practicing daily gratitude by writing down things you are thankful for. Simply put, being mindful is when we are aware and in control of our own experience in all aspects of life. In other words, when we are cultivating self-awareness.

So, what does it look like if we are living a life that is not being mindful? This is when powerless feelings surface that makes it difficult to take responsibility or feel empowered. For example, speaking without thinking, allowing emotions to get out of control, worrying about the future or regretting the past, and feeling like a victim of our circumstances.

Do you ever feel this way? Personally, I used to struggle with some of these things. At the time, I did not realize that it was up to me to make the change I wanted in life. Once I befriended myself, I felt really empowered to take control.

“Mindfulness is a way of befriending ourselves and our experience.”

— Jon Kabat-Zinn

When you are ready to begin cultivating self-awareness in your own life, I have tools and strategies that you can learn and implement. Together, we can shift your mindset so that you may go deep in cultivating self-awareness. Although, this will require you to practice radical acceptance and be alive to the present moment.

One of the biggest difficulties to achieving happiness and contentment in life is a lack of self-awareness. Without knowing ourselves, we may not even understand our emotions, actions, and why we act the way we do. As a result, our pain and suffering elevate.

You are not alone. I can be with you every step of the way as we walk through my Stop Suffering Now and Make Peace With Your Past program. You will gain insight, tools, and support that will help you tremendously along the way. Plus, you will learn the power that comes with befriending yourself. But, it all starts right here with cultivating self-awareness.

If you aren’t sure where to start, I have put together a simple 3-step exercise to help you learn to befriend yourself, cultivate self-awareness, and make peace with your past. So, grab yourself a pen and some paper - and let’s get started!

Step 1: Bring your focus and attention to yourself. Close your eyes, breathe in deeply through your nose and sigh it out during your out-breath. Relax into your body and simply notice what you notice. How does your body feel? Scan your body as you practice breathing deeply.

Step 2: When you feel settled ask yourself, “What is it you truly want in life?” Sit with yourself, do not judge your thoughts. Simply be open to everything that comes up. Once you have a good idea, open your eyes and jot down what your inner wisdom shared with you.

Step 3: Now that you know what it is you want, ask yourself, “What is my true purpose in life?” Now, repeat step 1 and when you have clarity, open your eyes and jot down what came up for you.

You’re simply noticing. This is a form of self-awareness.

See, you really can do this! Give yourself a pat on the back – and keep moving forward.

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Are you ready to start making peace with your past? Let’s work on it together. Sometimes having guidance along the way means a lot. If you are ready to cultivate self-awareness every day of your life, that is the first thing that we do in my 3-Month Stop Suffering Now and Make Peace With Your Past. Now’s the time: https://www.griefandtraumarelief.com/now

© 2021 Janine Naus