Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness.

In today's session we're going

to talk about re-establishing

respect for yourself.

Feeling a sense of respect for yourself

is one of the most important factors

for experiencing deep contentment.

It's what creates

comfort in your own skin.

It's a sense of being proud to be

who you are, not in an arrogant

way, but in an appreciative way.

Now, there are a lot of reasons we

might lose respect for ourselves.

Some of which include things

that are out of our control.

For instance, when we were young,

our family or social circle may have

encouraged us to think, speak or act in

ways that didn't feel aligned with who we

are and who we respect ourselves to be.

But the social pressure was greater than

our inner resources to act in alignment.

There are also though many times that

we chip away at our self-respect by

making conscious decisions that we know

are out of alignment with the person

we would most respect ourselves to be.

These can be big things, but

these can also be small things.

For me personally, I think back to

a time when I spoke badly behind

a friend's back to someone else

who I was trying to fit in with.

It felt innocent, but it was a subtle

compromise of my own self-respect

because it didn't align with the

person I most respected myself to

be, the person I most wanted to be.

We often make these little decisions

because the trade-off feels valuable.

In the example I shared it was social

connection that I was longing for.

But it does something to our core,

our perception of who we are.

Fortunately, the self-respect is something

that we can rebuild and it starts by

taking some time to reflect on the person

we would most respect ourselves to be.

What is this person's values?

What decisions does this person make?

How would this person conduct

themselves in a social setting?

And then we practice adhering to those

things, especially when it feels hard.

If developing more self-respect feels

compelling to you, my suggestion

would be, you know, after you finish

your meditation, think about one

thing you want to practice this week.

It could be something like being on

time or speaking, honestly, or not

gossiping, and then make full effort

to adhere to this throughout the week.

And each time you do, let yourself feel

the goodness of living in alignment.

Really take it in and appreciate it,

not for anyone else, but for yourself.

Over time, the accumulation of these

moments that are in or in alignment

with the version of you that you respect

yourself to be, this will reestablish

and rebuild your sense of self-respect.

Thank you for your practice and let's

settle in for today's meditation.