This journal will walk you through the basics of learning self-compassion in all areas of your life, including your cultural-social identities. You will find that true self-compassion is about bringing kindness to all the parts of you.
As you read on, you will see that the book is organized into a series of journaling adventures. Each one offers practice in the three skills that make up self-compassion--mindfulness, common humanity, and self-kindness. Within each journal adventure you will be invited to experiment with some really interesting activities that will turn up the volume on ways that you can offer yourself awesome acts of kindness and strong support when you need it. You will also have the chance to think about how you might be feeling before you begin each journal activity and after you’ve completed it.
This journal is set up so that you can write or sketch your responses in the spaces provided within each activity. (You can also use this book as a guide, and write your responses in a separate journal or notebook if you need more room or if that feels better to you.) All of these activities will ask you to identify your feelings, emotions, thoughts, and bodily sensations.
This journal is trauma sensitive and culturally inclusive. For those of you who identify as a member of an underserved, diverse group, there are lots of great resources throughout the book. You’ll also find crisis hotline information listed in the back of the book if you need more help.
If there is ever a part of any journal activity that you would prefer to skip, please feel free to do so. You can also take breaks anytime during the journal activities, especially if you notice yourself feeling very emotional or if you are having a hard time focusing. Please know that you can change a particular journal activity to fit your body, your mind, and your world if that is more useful to you. It is actually self-compassionate to notice what you are feeling and give yourself what you might need at any time. To keep your practice going, I would suggest that you try to complete at least two to three journal activities per week, if you can.
Within each journal activity you will be asked to jot down any parts of the experience that you found to be really helpful to you. These helpful parts are called “keepers.” You may want to keep track of your keepers--they can be especially helpful to repeat at a later time or when you might need them as self-compassionate reminders. At the end of the entire journal you will also be asked to jot down your top twelve keepers to use over and over.
Remember that this journal adventure is about being open to exploring and learning all about you with curiosity and fun--and not about judging yourself.
Copyright © 2022 by Sydney Spears. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
