Guilt and shame tend to hold us back from achieving a lot of things in our life. It can hold us back from following our dreams, seeing a major commitment to something all the way through, from remaining consistent with our self-care and wellness routine, as well as from reaching our goals.

This is because when we make ourselves feel guilty or shameful about not doing something, we are essentially making ourselves feel as though we have done something wrong.

We often times get stuck in this rumination about that guilt or shame, and for some of us it can be hard to move past those feelings immediately. So, we end up just waiting in these negative feelings for a light to shine down on us and motivate us to get back up and try again.

But does guilt and shame affect us differently? Is it possible that we can feel guilty about not staying committed to a goal, and still be able to achieve that goal in the timeframe we originally set? Is it possible to shame ourselves about not staying committed to a goal, and still have the desire to reach it?

Believe it or not guilt and shame are one in the same. They both encompass negative emotions that are directed towards the self.

The way they differ is in how we choose to let those emotions hit us. We can shame ourselves, which is actually never a good thing to do (more on that later) and still do what we know deep down inside is the right thing to do. We can also make ourselves feel guilty about something and move on just as easily.

Guilt and shame and the connection they have to reaching your goals greatly depends on the kind of relationship you have with these two emotions. In today’s post I’m going to share with you the differences between guilt and shame, and the direct connection they have to reaching your goals. [Read more…]

Do you practice self-care often? Do you understand the importance of self-care?

Lately it seems like self-care is a trend that everyone is doing and encouraging others to do as a means to just be a part of something cool. While I love self-care and highly encourage everyone to practice it daily, I also understand that it’s not a trend. Self-care isn’t something that you just pick up out of the blue, stick with for a while until it’s no longer serving you, and then drop like it’s nothing.

Oh no honey. Self-care is so much more than that!

Self-care is the act of effectively taking care of your mental, emotional, and physical well-being. It’s the process of doing the necessary inner work in order to allow yourself to grow into your full potential. While the majority of self-care is inner work, that’s not all that self-care is.

Self-care is also the skill to be able to reset and center yourself. It’s the ability to be able to easily call forth a skill or ability to regulate your mood and/or thoughts. Essentially self-care is the awareness you have of yourself and the ability to use that awareness in ways that can help you give yourself what it needs in order to regulate yourself.

There’s a constant debate about what self-care is and what it’s not. However, there are many different ways to engage in self-care despite what others have to say about it. The most important thing to know about self-care is that it’s a lot of work, but it’s necessary work if you want to be the best version of yourself.

I’m going to share with you some of the many reasons why practicing self-care is important, as well as some self-care activities that you can do. [Read more…]