Be Kind to Yourself - by Cindy Bunch (Paperback)

About the Book

It's easy to let self-criticism become our default setting. But as we learn to pay attention to what bugs us and identify negative thinking, we can lean into the things that bring us joy. Filled with spiritual practices and creative exercises, this book from spiritual director Cindy Bunch calls us to self-care through greater compassion for ourselves.

Book Synopsis

When we experience frustrations in daily life, many of us hold ourselves to blame. Self-criticism is often our default setting. But we can have a more gracious posture toward ourselves. We can practice disciplines of self-kindness.

Editor and spiritual director Cindy Bunch calls us to self-care through greater compassion for ourselves. She helps us pay attention to the frustrations that bug us in order to identify negative thinking about ourselves or others. As we do so, we can discern what we need to let go. This allows us to lean into the things that bring us joy. Each chapter is filled with spiritual practices and creative exercises for reflection and celebration. The pages of the appealing smaller book format are illustrated with photographs and art from the author.

Be kind to yourself. And discover new opportunities to embrace joy.

Review Quotes

"Be Kind to Yourself is a lovely gift of grace. I love that it is filled with practices to help act as antidotes for difficult times. This really is a sweet treasure to reach for when life is feeling especially unkind; it's guaranteed to inspire a new perspective."

--Christine Valters Paintner, poet and spiritual director, author of Earth, Our Original Monastery

"Be Kind to Yourself is one of those rare, triple threat books in Christian spiritual formation. One, it actually makes you want to do the work--and it is work--of formation. Two, it offers deep and wise and authentic counsel that is both ancient and current as it deals with life in our modern world of technology and social media. And three, it offers the right level of intensity--too difficult and we quit, too easy and we don't grow. We need this book right now. It will teach you not only how to be kind to yourself but also to love yourself rightly so you can naturally be a blessing to others."

--James Bryan Smith, author of The Good and Beautiful God

"'What's bugging you? What's bringing you joy?' With these two simple questions, Cindy Bunch, like an experienced mariner, masterfully steers us through the choppy seas of negative self-talk and disheartening feelings that we all know so well. Each chapter of Be Kind to Yourself is a testimony to an important insight: by responding to God's grace with classic spiritual practices, we can anchor our lives in a peaceful harbor resplendent with joy and free of frustrations. This is wise and practical spiritual formation at its best!"

--Albert Haase, OFM, author of Becoming an Ordinary Mystic: Spirituality for the Rest of Us

"For some time I have been contemplating writing a book that would offer support for life's ordinary days. Now I won't have to write it because my dear friend Cindy Bunch has written an inviting, creative book of reflection and noticing. All too often we are focused on the highs and lows of life, which may be less than 20 percent of our days. But how can we enjoy the plain, old, routinely typical day? Thanks, Cindy, for inviting us to see and know the presence of God in the ordinary days of our lives and helping us to hold on to the 'unforced rhythms of grace.' May Be Kind to Yourself become a go-to for all who long to stay awake to the beauty and revelations of life."

--Juanita Campbell Rasmus, spiritual director, copastor of St. John's United Methodist Church, Houston, and author of Learning to Be: Finding Your Center After the Bottom Falls Out

"I sometimes say unkind things to myself that I would never say out loud to another person. We really do need to learn to be kind to ourselves as God is kind to us. Be Kind to Yourself is a beautiful and practical guide to show us how. Thank you for sharing your wisdom, Cindy."

--Alan Fadling, president of Unhurried Living and coauthor of What Does Your Soul Love?

"In her book Be Kind to Yourself, Cindy Bunch vulnerably shares her journey of surrender, and in doing so, she's given us a precious gift. Cindy generously and lovingly shows us how to listen to our own hearts and for the voice of God. Be Kind to Yourself is chock full of essential truths and insights, and creative, empowering, and practical tools. As a writer, counselor, and spiritual director, this book challenged and encouraged me to be more gentle with myself and others. I believe it will do the same for any small group, retreat, book club, or individual wanting to more fully embrace joy. This book is a treasure trove that you will return to again and again."

--Sheila Wise Rowe, counselor, spiritual director, and author of Healing Racial Trauma and The Well of Life

"Reading this book is like taking a walking tour of real life at ground level and making the surprising discovery that each day's prickly pokes and elegant graces are fodder for meaningful engagement with life and God. Cindy Bunch, in her marvelous book Be Kind to Yourself, shares her own story with candid vulnerability, stopping along the way to illustrate and introduce creative and livable spiritual practices. This book is truly a gem, and from an author who embodies its truths artfully and authentically. You will love it!"

--Beth A. Booram, cofounder and director of Fall Creek Abbey, coauthor of When Faith Becomes Sight

"The beauty of Cindy Bunch's book Be Kind to Yourself is its simplicity and balance. With just two questions, What's bugging you? and What's bringing you joy? Cindy presents a daily framework for a disciplined but tender spiritual life. Be Kind to Yourself is both practical and confessional. An array of old and new practices helps the reader to mine and illumine those two questions. Stories of her own faithful but flubbed spiritual life encourage us to be gentle with ourselves in the challenging work of prayer and devotion. What Cindy offers is an honest, doable, and shameless way to connect to God and self."

--Sybil MacBeth, author of Praying in Color and The Season of the Nativity

About the Author

Cindy Bunch is associate publisher and director of editorial for InterVarsity Press, where she acquires and develops books on spiritual formation. She is a trained spiritual director and lives with her husband in the Chicago area.