Love the One You’re ALWAYS With…Yourself!
By Susanne Michaud, DPT, OCS
The practice of self-compassion is paramount in the healing and recovery process. Practicing self-compassion towards one’s negative self-emotions leads to a softer, kinder motivation that improves the brain and body’s ability to learn and change.1 Evidence for this is found in the research of psychologist and founder of the self-compassion movement, Kristen D. Neff. In her work she discovered that “self-compassion involves the desire for the self’s health and well-being, and is associated with greater personal initiative to make needed changes in one’s life.”2
Self-compassion practice entails the following:
- Self kindness
Part of the human experience involves suffering, disappointment, heartache, embarrassment, and failure. However, practicing self-kindness during these trying times can soothe the experience through gentleness and forgiveness, rather than anger and self-criticism.
- A sense of your common humanity
Recognizing that you are not alone in your experience can also generate greater resilience during times of hardship. Knowing that you are a part of a common humanity can help to reduce feelings of aloneness or isolation.
- Mindfulness
Using an observational and nonjudgmental approach to one’s thoughts and feelings in the present moment allows us to stay conscious, attuned, and connected to the experience.
Self-compassion embraces feeling the rainbow of human emotions, acknowledging and honoring them versus squelching, avoiding, or ruminating on them. By doing so, we deepen and strengthen our sense of well-being and ease in our lives.
If you’d like to deepen your self-compassion, here are two links to tools and meditations to get you closer to your true self.
www.self-compassion.org/test-how-self-compassionate-you-are/
www.self-compassion.org/category/exercises/
May the love in your heart find YOU this Valentines day.