Self-Compassion

SELF COMPASSION 

What is self-compassion? 

Self-Compassion is being composed of three main components – self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness. Self-compassion involves acting the same way towards yourself when you are having a difficult time, fail, or notice something you don’t like about yourself as you would towards one of your friends. Instead of just ignoring your pain with a “stiff upper lip” mentality, you stop to tell yourself “this is really difficult right now,” how can I comfort and care for myself in this moment?  (Kristin Neff). 

For children and/or adults:

Activity 1: 

Close your eyes and reflect for a moment on the following question:

Think about various times when you’ve had a close friend who was struggling in some way- had a misfortune, failed, or felt inadequate. How do you typically respond to your friends in such situations? What do you say? 

Now close your eyes again and think about various times when you were struggling in some way – had a misfortune, failed, or felt inadequate. How do you typically respond to yourself in these situations? What does your own inner voice say in such situations? 

Consider the differences between how you treat your close friends when they are struggling and how you treat yourself. Be aware of your inner voice when encountering failure or personal struggle and challenge negative internal dialogue, replacing it with what you would say to a good friend encountering the same struggle or mistake.

For adults: 

For further exercises in Self-Compassion by Kristin Neff  https://self-compassion.org/category/exercises/

Self-Compassion Ted Talk video (Dr. Kristen Neff): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvtZBUSplr4

Christopher Germer

Resources:

What is Self-Compassion?

Empower Your Students with Self-Compassion

Book: The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook – A Proven Way to Accept Yourself, Build Inner Strength, and Thrive 

Authors: Kristen Neff, PhD; Christopher Germer, PhD

Coming Up: 

Monday: Mindfulness