Hi everyone, it's Rosie. Welcome to Radio Headspace and to Thursday.

As you know, this week is all about the journey to self-acceptance and the little things

that help us get there. Today, I want to talk about a wonderful yet surprisingly difficult

element of self-acceptance, good old self-compassion. And I say it's difficult because we can be really

hard on ourselves. I remember a time when I had meticulously planned a few days off, hoping

to recharge and indulge in some much-needed self-care. Yet, as the day approached, a dark

cloud of guilt took over. Thoughts of unfinished tasks, deadlines, and the fear of disappointing

others consumed my mind. The weight of guilt made it difficult to fully embrace any idea of

taking time for myself. Little did I know that this struggle would lead me on a journey of self-discovery,

where I would come to understand the profound importance of self-compassion. But more on that

in a moment. I think for a lot of us, having compassion for ourselves isn't something we focus

on a lot. Generally, when we think of being compassionate towards others, we instinctively offer

kindness, understanding, and support. Yet, when it comes to ourselves, we often fall short.

We can judge, criticize, and hold ourselves to impossibly high standards. But what if we

shifted our perspective? What if we realized that true compassion begins within?

A few years ago, I found myself on the verge of burnout. The constant drive to meet everyone's

expectations at work and in my personal life left me depleted and disconnected from myself.

One day, I was having a conversation with a dear friend, sharing the list of projects I was

putting together. And she confronted me with a simple yet profound question.

Rosie, when was the last time you truly showed yourself compassion?

I began to cry instantly. I couldn't answer her. With all the mindfulness training and self-work

I had done, I wasn't even allowing myself the space to breathe. I realized that I had been

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