Are you feeling sad and happy at the same time? You are not alone. In this podcast episode, Angela Hoogeveen and Geneva Robins chat about how you can create space and permission to feel all the complexity of your life.

We're living in a turbulent world that brings a range of emotions. Everything you are feeling is okay. Of course, you feel everything strongly; that is very normal for a sensitive soul like you. What if you create a space of permission to feel what you are honestly experiencing? What could open up for you if you allow two things to be true at once?

How is it possible to feel joy and grief at the same time? What about groundedness and excitement? The answer may be right inside your brain!

Jill Bolte Taylor's book "Whole Brain Living: The Anatomy Of Choice And The Four Characters That Drive Our Life" is a fascinating discussion of how different parts of the brain 'think' and have very different experiences of the same situation.

Consider tryinga Reiki session to get support for strong and complex emotions. In our session with you there's space to feel and a nurturing presence of the Reiki energy to comfort whatever you may be feeling.

You may also like our other podcast about this:

Podcast 18 - How can Reiki help me with Strong Emotions

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If you’ve ever struggled to keep up with your self-care, this podcast is for you. Explore how to make self-kindness simple, sustainable, and genuinely nourishing—one tiny step at a time.

Let’s be honest: sometimes self-care sounds like another item on the ever-growing to-do list. But what if you let yourself off the hook? What if you started so small that it felt almost effortless? Imagine celebrating putting on your shoes—never mind running the marathon.

That’s the spirit I want you to bring to your self-care practice. It’s not about grand gestures or perfect routines. It’s about noticing the little things, and showing yourself a bit of kindness, even (especially!) when you’re feeling stuck.

We've all been there—beyond exhausted. If you'd like help with an energetic reboot, book a session now through the Jane app or look through our courses and sessions to learn more about how we can help you reactivate your self-care routines

Think about your everyday routines. You probably sleep on the same side of the bed, drink your coffee the same way, and set up your day with familiar little rituals. Our bodies and minds move in these well-worn tracks, and there’s comfort in that. But what happens when there’s friction—when the path isn’t clear?

Imagine if, every night, you had to move all your furniture just to get into bed. Suddenly, bedtime becomes a Herculean task. That’s what it’s like when you load up your self-care practice with obstacles, or tell yourself you have to “make up” for lost time by doubling your efforts. That’s a recipe for shame and exhaustion, not healing.

Here’s a radical idea: reward yourself just for starting. Give yourself a metaphorical sticker for beginning your meditation, not for reaching some blissful state. Take the pressure off. The hardest part of any practice is showing up, so let that be your win.

If you haven’t worked out in a week, you don’t need to punish yourself with an extra-long gym session. Just put on your sneakers. Just drive to the gym. Let that be enough. Friction is the enemy, so design your routines to be as downhill as possible. Pack your gym bag and leave it in the car. Create a meditation nook that’s inviting, not cluttered.

If your meditation cushion is buried under laundry, you’re not going to use it. That’s not a failure—it’s just a sign to make your practice easier. Be curious, not judgmental. Didn’t meditate today? Instead of beating yourself up, ask: “What tiny shift could help tomorrow?” Maybe you meditate lying down instead of sitting. Maybe you wait until the kids are asleep. Maybe your self-care looks like two mindful sips of tea, or doodling on a scrap of paper.

We all remember to charge our phones. What if you used plugging in your device as a cue to check in with yourself? What would recharge you right now? Is it a moment with your favourite crystal, a mindful walk, or a page of a beloved book? Layer these micro-moments throughout your day. Change your sheets. Light a candle. Sip something warm. Each act of care, no matter how small, builds a resilient safety net for when life gets messy.

Don’t wait for perfect circumstances to practice self-care. Seize the in-between moments: a red light, a line at the store, five quiet minutes during naptime. Ground yourself when chaos erupts because then your calm helps those around you, too. Notice beauty in the ordinary: sunlight on the wall, birds outside your window, the changing moon. Let these be invitations to return to yourself.

You will fall away from your practice. That’s not failure, that’s life. The magic is in returning, gently, again and again. Every time you come back, you strengthen your resilience. Every slip reminds you what truly matters.

So, start small. Remove the friction. Celebrate every return. Give yourself more grace than you think you need. You’re doing more than you realize, and it all counts. Keep weaving those moments of care into your days—you’ve got this.

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• The Secret Art of Happiness: Change Your Life with the Reiki Ideals by Geneva Robins - a book with a whole chapter on kindness!
• Kindness Meditation - a gentle meditation to expand all forms of kindness
• Saying No - a blog post on how kind it is to say a beautiful NO
• Reiki Sessions - a big help on getting compassionate support and energy

If you've been in a highly self-critical mode for a while, it can be difficult to shift immediately to kind inner talk. One method that can help is to shift to a neutral statement that you already believe.

Try something like "I am a human being."

Then try "All humans are worthy of kindness."

Before going to "Therefore, I am worthy of kindness because I am a human being."

By shifting into a neutral statement in this way, you activate a gentle space inside that just sidesteps the fight the inner critic puts up when you first try to talk to yourself kindly. You just go around the arguments with a gentle and patient logic.

Sometimes you can flip the statements of the inner critic into their exact opposites to create a new inner dialogue. You can take "You're never good enough" and turn it into "I'm always myself, and who I am is enough."

Sometimes words are not enough. Tiny acts of self-care can go a long way to rebalancing your nervous system. Even something as simple as putting on a cozy sweater or adjusting your body so you're more comfortable can be a sign to your inner self that you are now living your life in a new, self-kind way. These tiny actions prove to your inner child that you will actually take care of yourself.

Almost anything we do is a skill that can be practiced. Gently remind yourself that you are practicing this new skill of self-kindness. Start where you're at and be okay with your progress and slips. It is all a new space, gradually filling with grace as your skills grow.

We learn how to be kind to ourselves from our family and other carers. But if they don't have those skills of emotional regulation, soothing, and reframing thoughts, then they can't teach you.

So now, as an adult, you may be learning kind self-talk skills that you wished you had learned as a child. Be gentle with your progress. It's almost like learning a new language. So be patient and keep practicing even through the mistakes and wobbly first attempts at a new way of relating to yourself.

If you've been surrounded by unkind people and have absorbed their cruel inner talk, it is incredibly helpful to get help from professionals trained who are to hold a compassionate space for you.

Therapy, Reiki, Meditation, Yoga, and other allied health practitioners have spent years and even decades practicing gentle and kind methods that can help you grow your inner kindness.

If in doubt, reach out!

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