LIFESTYLE | WHY YOU SHOULD BE KINDER TO YOURSELF

Yesterday morning, I tuned it to one of my favourite podcasts - The Simple Sophisticate. The episode was all about self-compassion and being kinder to yourself. This is something I've always struggled with - I'm my own biggest critic and I put a lot of pressure on myself to be perfect. I often experience feelings of self-doubt and negativity and this is only exacerbated by university.

Let me be honest, being at university, surrounded by so many different and amazing people, doing amazing things can be both inspiring and destructive at the same time. There's always that feeling of why aren't I or why haven't I done these things; I'm never going to be able to achieve this; I'm definitely not good enough to do that. Throw in all the partying and fast-life living, the loneliness, stress and general WTF that come with uni and you've got yourself a recipe for disaster.

(It's not all doom and gloom - uni is amazing: you get to meet and make lifelong friends, experience new things and expand your horizons)

Learning not to compare yourself to others and, perhaps more importantly, to be emotionally kinder to yourself can help you overcome these feelings and change the quality of your life. Most importantly, as a student, learning to be kinder to yourself will help you to build healthier relationships. The thing is we're young, impressionable and vulnerable when we go off to uni but if you learn to take care of your own emotional wellbeing by being kinder to yourself, you'll rely less on other people to fulfil you.

YES to being strong and independent and not needing nothing from nobody!

5 simple things you can do to be kinder to yourself:

1) Make time for you

Do the things you enjoy and do purely for yourself, schedule them into your day/your week/your month. Set aside money to do those things. Tell people you're busy because you want to go to that dance class, skip drinks with your flatmates because you want to take a bubble bath and have the house to yourself after a hectic week.

2) Go for a walk, go to an art gallery or museum - soak in the beauty of the world.

When I was in Barcelona, there was so much beauty around me - from architecture to museums to exhibitions - and whenever I went for a wander or to an exhibition, I always came out feeling lighter, happier and more at peace. Might sound silly, but give it a go and actually look around at your surroundings.

3) Get lost in a good book!

My course is super reading intensive, so after a day of reading textbooks, journal articles and cases I rarely think to unwind with yet another book. However, I recently rediscovered the pleasure that is getting swept up in a good book. Whether it's a fictional crime thriller, an inspiring autobiography or an insightful self-help guide, a good book can totally take you out of your own reality - what a perfect way to relax.

4) Indulge

Order that pizza hut cookie dough desert, buy yourself a brownie or 3 (I'm not judging), get a takeaway from your favourite curry house. Savour every moment and don't feel guilty for a second. You deserve it boo!

What are some of the things you do to be kind to yourself? 

Be sure to check out the other posts in my Student Life series

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Martha xo