While today I have a much happier, healthy relationship with myself compared with when I was in my teens and twenties, there are of course still days when I want to revert to old habits or feel like I want to hide under the duvet with every season of a show I want to watch.

What I’ve learned and am still learning to do, is not be so hard on the parts of me I don’t like so much. The parts of me that perhaps hold me back and want to fall into old patterns of self-sabotage. The parts which choose to be lazy and skip the workout and order a take-out. The parts which aren’t the ‘perfect’ person I thought I once needed to be.

Stopping and thinking what I’d say to a best friend in the same situation has meant I’m kinder and more understanding. This has helped me to bounce back from these moments into a place where I feel back in my flow a lot quicker; whereas in the past I’d feel guilty and spiral into self-loathing if I did something I wasn’t ‘proud’ of, which could last for a few days and sometimes weeks.

I also did the below exercise in my book writing mastermind, which I am now sharing as it was truly powerful in helping me to accept all parts of myself. 

Starting with the words I am… write down everything that comes to mind.

I am a creator

I am compassionate

I am a being of light

I am nice

I am impatient

I am a coach

I am fast

I am a quick-thinker

I am generous

I am loving

I am bored at times

I am lazy

I am a procrastinator

I am selfish

I am un-lovable

I am self-centred

I am worthy

I am lovable

I am deep

I am dark

I am a bitch

I am a healer

I am self-abusive

I am hurt

I am broken

I am joy

I am wonder

I am amazement

I am beauty

I am love

I am magic

I am addicted

I am shadow

I am a self-sabotager

I am attention seeking

I am mean

I am judgmental

I am caring

I am evil

I am unkind

I am self-serving

I am alone

I am beautiful

I am the Universe

I am me

I am a witch

I am all I can be

I am good and bad

I am abundance

I am free

Declaring and owning everything ‘I am’ out in the open was a bit of a realisation, incredibly healing as well as an affirmation that it’s okay to be all of it. Even if I am all the parts that I am not so proud of, I’m also all the parts I am proud of.

Your turn, what are you? How does it feel to declare all of it?

What parts of yourself do you perhaps not like to much but could show some more compassion and understanding to?

This blog post is an excerpt from my book, Embodied. You can get your own copy of Embodied here or anywhere you buy your books online.

Photo by Rodion Kutsaev on Unsplash.