Becoming a Better Friend. To Yourself.

I hope everyone is having a lovely week. I wanted to share a theme that's been coming up for me this week that's captured by this quote from American nun Pema Chodron, 
 

"Meditation practice isn't about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It's about befriending who we are already."

It reminds me of a saying an early meditation teacher of mine said during class, that during our practice we work to "tend and befriend". It's simple, but profound, and has always stuck with me.

You Are Not Broken

I think in the wellness and healing space it can be so easy to think (and sell) that we are broken, we need to change, we need to be different. But I don't believe in that. I believe that all of the practices I do for myself or do with others are about quieting down the stories & programming we have picked up along the way to become friendly and accepting of ourselves. ALL of ourselves. We can't have the good without the bad, the joy without the sorrow, the light without the dark. 

So, rather than running away from the dark I encounter in myself, my practice is walking towards it with a kind, open heart. To embrace my dark and sticky parts. Offering them the love and light of awareness and any healing energy they may need. And the irony is that when we do walk towards those messy parts of ourselves with love, we change. In the acceptance, I find the growth. 

Tend and Befriend

What parts of yourself can you tend, and try to befriend today? Where do you need to welcome and comfort yourself with open arms the way you would a dear friend?

I encourage you to try it and see what happens. 

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