January: Raising Good Humans – Practicing Compassion – It Begins with You
Currently, we are reading the book Raising Good Humans by Hunter Clarke-Fields. Over the coming months, we’ll dive into practical strategies from the book. These strategies will help cultivate mindful parenting and strengthen family relationships. They will also help raise kind, confident children. Join us as we unpack these lessons and apply them to everyday life!
In this edition of our spotlight, we explore practicing self-compassion. “Feeling compassion for ourselves in no way releases us from responsibility for our actions. Rather, it releases us from the self-hatred that prevents us from responding to our life with clarity and balance.” (Hunter Clarke-Fields, Raising Good Humans, p. 53). This quote captures a powerful truth for parents: how we treat ourselves directly shapes how we engage with our children. We often mirror harsh criticism in how we respond to our kids when we harshly criticize our own mistakes. By practicing self-compassion, we can break this cycle. We replace shame and judgment with kindness and understanding for both ourselves and our children.
Research shows that self-compassion fosters personal growth and strengthens our parenting. When we stop the cycle of negative self-talk, we model for our kids that imperfection is part of being human. Clarke-Fields reminds us that children learn more from what we do than what we say. We empower them to do the same if we show them how to handle mistakes with grace and self-acceptance. This shift helps us meet our children’s needs with greater empathy. We also gain more patience, even in the face of challenging behaviors.
Practicing compassion doesn’t happen overnight, but small changes make a big difference. Start by noticing your inner critic and intentionally replacing harsh thoughts with kinder, truthful ones. Recognize that everyone, including you, makes mistakes—it’s part of our shared humanity. When you model self-kindness, you create a nurturing environment. Extending empathy to your children makes them feel safe to grow, learn, and thrive. Let’s remember: the compassion we practice within ourselves grows stronger, and it will grow in our children, too.
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