Maybe self-compassion is a buzz word you’re hearing a lot about, maybe. But maybe you’ve never heard the word before. Either way, here is a short video I made to briefly explain it:

PhD, Kristin Neff, researches self-compassion. She has an awesome TedTalk, also great self-compassion practice ideas on her website, http://selfcompassion.org/.

On her website, Neff writes that self-compassion is answering the following question:

How can I comfort and care for myself in this moment?

Straight-forward, HARD question. Sometimes we don’t know what will be most comforting or caring for ourselves, let alone how exactly we’re going to have the energy or power to figure out what will comfort us–and then seek it out.

Now, why is self-compassion so good? Why would you want to practice it? Well, in her TedTalk, Neff points out that showing yourself compassion has the same positive benefits as having high self-esteem. Now, self-esteem is a value judgement we place on ourselves (like for example, I did great leading this meeting, so I have high self-esteem; or I feel like I did poorly at X, so therefore, I have low self-esteem). But the cool thing with self-compassion is that REGARDLESS of how you perform (or how you think you perform), you can still experience the benefits of high self-esteem (eg. self-confidence, peace, regulated)… IF you are KIND to yourself! How awesome is that?!

Life is hard. Let’s try to be kind to ourselves. And KIND-driven, instead of performance-driven.

My dear friend, Brynn, creates beautiful, creative cards with the purpose of lifting others up and encouraging them. She made this one card that SO fits this topic:

Some weeks are better than others with the whole self-compassion thing for me. But, I feel so excited…because self-compassion is a SKILL. That means we can develop it– through p-r-a-c-t-i-c-e. Woo! Jesus, may we practice self-compassion and be gentle towards ourselves Amen.

Sending you inspiration, warmth, and refreshment, and encouragement to practice self-compassion.

Photo Credit: Brynn Fowler Designs