Self compassion

We've been talking about doing shadow work the last few days. It's a very important practice and ends up being truly liberating. But it's almost impossible to do shadow work without compassion for ourselves. Here's a comment on self compassion by Pema Chödrön that I just found:

As we learn to have compassion for ourselves, the circle of compassion for others -- what and whom we can work with, and how -- becomes wider.

When I ease up on myself, I ease up on other people. It's as simple as that!