What it means to go easy on yourself
When you are having a hard time, the way you can go easy on yourself is by allowing yourself to be instead of trying to find answers to everything right away and fix things as if there are instant solutions to such deep-rooted problems and patterns.
Going easy on yourself does not mean indulging in self-destructive behaviour that will make you feel good for maybe a few hours or desperately seeking instant gratification in any way and form you can find.
It means not jumping to conclusions or thinking too deeply or forcing yourself to figure it all out. It means eating well, getting enough sleep, brushing your hair, and having fruit.
It means laughing with a friend, going for a walk or lying down on the cool marble floor in Shavasana. It means constantly filling your bottle of water and carrying it everywhere with you and reading good books the ones that give you some comfort and leave you with a sense of warmth and hope.
It means engaging yourself in things that allow you to breathe a little better as you do all the functional things life is demanding out of you, like work and chores.
Going easy on yourself during such times means you don’t take yourself so seriously because that is the quickest way to skinny dip in rabbit holes and camp there for extended periods. It also means that you say no to things and people who make you feel anxious, conscious, and uneasy. Yes, you should step out of your comfort zone and push yourself and all that but there is a time and place for that. And when you’re feeling such heaviness of being, that is not it.
Not demanding more from yourself, not caving into the demands of others, not using your sadness and pain as an excuse to fall back on maladaptive coping mechanisms, not getting existential about everything — that’s what it means to go easy on yourself. So, please, do go easy.
gracieabrams
germansingergirl
ellievsbear
kianamaiart
origamiaround
