Insiluit

PART – I: Practicing Self Compassion

Practicing self-compassion has been a refreshing change from being self-critical towards myself.
However, during the exercise, I realized that self-compassion did not come unconsciously to me
as somehow by nature or by practice, self-criticism was the first thing I resorted to in an
unfavourable situation.
After practicing self-compassion during the past few days, I felt that it has begun influencing
quite a few aspects of my life. Firstly, I have started noticing these feelings and being mindful of
the thoughts that arise, which was not the case earlier.
In difficult situations where I could not perform, I would directly go into self-criticizing mode. In
situations where I got hurt & felt pain, I would normally give an explosive reaction. But now, I
have stopped doing that. In case of failures or underperformances, I tend to go easy on myself
and accept that failures & mistakes can happen in life. I am mindful of the fact that
shortcomings and suffering are a part of life, which soothes the pain and gives me more
emotional stability.
I earlier used to feel by being compassionate towards myself would be seen as a self-centered
and egocentric trait. But now I realize that it does not necessarily mean that I am self-centered
if I care for myself. In fact, I can only have more social connectedness and satisfaction if we are
emotionally stable.

PART – II: Compassion Practice – Letting Go of Anger

In most of the situations when things do not go as expected, I get angry. I become too
outspoken and reactive. While performing this exercise, I became more mindful of my anger
and the reaction following it. I started to temper down those reactions.

When any unpleasant situation arose and my temper went high, I practiced to take a pause and
be quiet for 2 mins. I try to think about the situation and the perspective of the other people
involved in it too. I try to control my emotions and understand the other person’s feelings too
and treat the person with compassion and kindness. In this way I can better understand the
situation and have control over it, rather than let the situation control me.