Gentle Questions To Ask Yourself On Hard Days
We all have hard days. On those hard days it is especially hard to remember to be gentle on ourselves. Some people call the hard days the spiral days. There is a phenomena that when we start to spiral negatively, even a little bit, then it is easy for that spiral to go deeper and deeper until our whole day has seemingly been ruined. One great way to pump the brakes when we notice a negative spiral is to start asking ourselves some gentle questions.
Gentle Questions to Ask Yourself
Helen Marie, an Instagram influencer, recommends the following gentle questions:
- What's making today so challenging?
- What sensations do I notice in my body?
- What emotions do I feel?
- What story are these emotions telling me?
- What actions are they telling me to safely take?
- What words of kindness can I offer myself?
- What tools do I have access to that bring me back to connection with myself?
- When have I felt this before?
- What helped then? Can I try that now?
- Who can I reach out to?
- What's one small thing I can give myself in this moment that will bring some ease?
As you answer each question honestly and gently to yourself, pay attention to your body and how each part of it feels. Being able to identify our many various (and oftentimes unexpected) emotions can help us to process and progress. Where are the emotions in your body being felt the most? Is it your heart, your head, your lungs, your ankles? Giving attention and nurturing to those parts of us that are feeling our hard days can help them (and obviously us as a whole) to process and heal.
The more you practice asking yourself these types of questions, the greater your emotional intelligence and empathy toward yourself will grow. Just as creating an being a best friend to someone else takes time, so does becoming (and being) your own best friend. Invest the time. Be curious about your feelings. Make it okay for you to ask yourself questions when things are not going alright. This habit can be magical!
Spiral Yourself Out of a Negative Spiral!
One thing to keep in mind regarding spirals is that positive spirals upward work too! Injecting a bit of kindness and positivity into ourselves can start a wonderful chain reaction. Of course, we have to be willing to do nice, kind, and gentle things for ourselves and learn to speak kindly internally. I love learning new tips and techniques for incorporating more positivity into my own life, so please share yours with me the next time you come in!
