{"id":90,"date":"2023-06-15T11:30:56","date_gmt":"2023-06-15T10:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/changing-ourselves\/?p=90"},"modified":"2023-06-15T12:03:00","modified_gmt":"2023-06-15T11:03:00","slug":"what-would-you-do-if-you-were-able-to-be-kinder-to-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/changing-ourselves\/2023\/06\/15\/what-would-you-do-if-you-were-able-to-be-kinder-to-yourself\/","title":{"rendered":"What would you do if you were able to be kinder to yourself?"},"content":{"rendered":"

How often do you find yourself mulling over a conversation, stuck in a loop of (over)thinking all the much more insightful things you could have said, all the myriad ways in which you could have been better\/stronger\/cleverer\/altogether different? Do you find that you are frequently self-critical, compare yourself unfavourably to others or conversely put others down to feel good about yourself? Well, congratulations, you too are human!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Self-compassion is a positive psychology concept and describes the ability to be kind and understanding to oneself, even when one makes mistakes or experiences setbacks. It is a skill that can be learned and developed, and it has been shown to have a number of benefits for mental and physical health (Neff, 2003). In the workplace, self-compassion can help employees cope with stress, manage difficult emotions, and build resilience. It can also lead to increased productivity, engagement, and job satisfaction (Neff, 2003).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Self-compassion can be misconstrued as weakness or self-indulgence, but evidence (Neff & Pommier, 2013) shows that developing compassion helps to bolster our resilience and that having compassion for ourselves can develop our compassion for others.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Be kinder to yourself. And then let\u202f your\u202fkindness\u202fflood\u202fthe world. \u2014 Pema Chodron<\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

There are 3 components of self-compassion (Smeets & Neff, 2016):<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Self-kindness<\/span><\/b> refers to being caring and understanding with oneself rather than harshly judgmental. Instead of attacking and berating oneself for personal shortcomings, the self is offered warmth and unconditional acceptance.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Humanity<\/span><\/b> involves recognizing that humans are imperfect, that all people fail, make mistakes, and have serious life challenges. By remembering that imperfection is part of life, we feel less isolated when we are in pain.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mindfulness<\/span><\/b> in the context of self compassion involves being aware of one\u2019s painful experiences in a balanced way that neither ignores and avoids nor exaggerates painful thoughts and emotions.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A first step to developing your self compassion is to notice more:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n