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Self-compassion is like a muscle. The more we practice flexing it, especially when life doesn’t go exactly according to plan (a frequent scenario for most of us), the stronger and more resilient our compassion muscle becomes.

Sharon Salzberg

All forms of meditation strengthen & direct our attention through the cultivation of three key skills: concentration, mindfulness & compassion or loving & kindness.
SHARON SALZBERG

Attention Direction Kindness Strength
It is never too late to turn on the light. Your ability to break an unhealthy habit or turn off an old tape doesn’t depend on how long it has been running; a shift in perspective doesn’t depend on how long you’ve held on to the old view.
SHARON SALZBERG

Ability Break Habit Light Perspective View
Vulnerability in the face of constant change is what we share, whatever our present condition.
SHARON SALZBERG

Change Present Vulnerable
As we practice meditation, we get used to stillness and eventually are able to make.
SHARON SALZBERG

Peace Transformation
Mindfulness helps us get better at seeing the difference between what’s happening and the stories we tell ourselves about what’s happening, stories that get in the way of direct experience. Often such stories treat a fleeting state of mind as if it were our entire and permanent self.
SHARON SALZBERG

Difference Experience Mindset Ourselves Philosophy See Story
To offer our hearts in faith means recognizing that our hearts are worth something, that we ourselves, in our deepest and truest nature, are of value.
SHARON SALZBERG

Faith Heart Ourselves Value Worth
People turn to meditation because they want to make good decisions, break bad habits & bounce back better from disappointments.
SHARON SALZBERG

Bad Break Decision Disappointment Goodness People
Our ability to connect with others is innate, wired into our nervous systems, and we need connection as much as we need physical nourishment.
SHARON SALZBERG

Ability Connection Need Ourselves
The art of concentration is a continual letting go. We let go of what is inessential or distracting. We let go of a thought or a feeling, not because we are afraid of it or because we can’t bear to acknowledge it as a part of our experience; but, because it is UNNECESSARY.
SHARON SALZBERG

Afraid Art Experience Feeling
We use mindfulness to observe the way we cling to pleasant experiences & push away unpleasant ones.
SHARON SALZBERG

Experience Mindset
The overarching practice of letting go is also one of gaining resilience and insight.
SHARON SALZBERG

Let Go Resilence
Meditation is a microcosm, a model, a mirror. The skills we practice when we sit are transferable to the rest of our lives.
SHARON SALZBERG

Life Ourselves Skill Transformation
We can free ourselves from the old stories that have reduced us & allow real love for ourselves to blossom.
SHARON SALZBERG

Freedom Ourselves Story True Love
To relinquish the futile effort to control change is one of the strengthening forces of true detachment & thus true love.
SHARON SALZBERG

Change Control Effort Force Love Strength
over time, offering loving kindness to all beings everywhere, including ourselves, unites us to one another so that we know that we can not go forward forgetting those left behind.
SHARON SALZBERG

Forget Kindness Love Ourselves Time Unity
Abiding faith does not depend on borrowed concepts. Rather, it is the magnetic force of a bone-deep, lived understanding, one that draws us to realize our ideals, walk our talk,and act in accord with what we know to be true.
SHARON SALZBERG

Act Faith Force Ideal True Understand Walk

Self-compassion is like a muscle. The more we practice flexing it, especially when life doesn’t go exactly according to plan (a frequent scenario for most of us), the stronger and more resilient our compassion muscle becomes.

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Self-compassion is like a muscle. The more we practice flexing it, especially when life doesn’t go exactly according to plan (a frequent scenario for most of us), the stronger and more resilient our compassion muscle becomes.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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