One component of mental well-being is self-compassion.

According to researcher Kristin Neff,

โ€œHaving compassion for oneself is really no different than having compassion for others. Self-compassion involves acting the same way towards yourself when you are having a difficult time, fail, or notice something you donโ€™t like about yourself. Instead of just ignoring your pain with a โ€œstiff upper lipโ€ mentality, you stop to tell yourself โ€œthis is really difficult right now,โ€ how can I comfort and care for myself at this moment?โ€

Rather than allowing the self-critic to judge yourself for shortcomings, self-compassion means you are kind and understanding.

Dr. Emma Seppala notes,

โ€œMost of us donโ€™t stop to consider whether our self-critical and competitive attitude is helping us achieve our goals. We donโ€™t realize that they are actually standing in our way. Scientific data shows that self-criticism makes us weaker in the face of failure, more emotional, and less likely to assimilate lessons from our failures. Studies are finding that there is a far better alternative to self-criticism: self-compassion.โ€ย 

Rather than being critical, one can expand our perspective and realize mistakes and failures are a part of life and other factors that contribute to these experiences and emotions.

Below is an infographic summarizing Dr. Seppalaโ€™s findings on self-compassion:

TheScientificBenefitsofSelf-Compassion-1.jpg

For more information please visit:

www.paintedbrain.org

http://ccare.stanford.edu/uncategorized/the-scientific-benefits-of-self-compassion-infographic/

https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/09/05/school-of-life-self-compassion/

http://self-compassion.org/tips-for-practice/#

Originally published on https://mswthoughts.wordpress.com/

By Nga Cao and Kevin Naruse