Self-Compassion

Self-compassion is the ability to extend patience, forgiveness, acceptance and care inward to yourself. It is a way for people to care for themselves when faced with challenges or failure. People who are self-compassionate often experience greater happiness, are more optimistic and have increased motivation.

When practicing self-compassion, you mindfully accept difficult or challenging moments and treat yourself with kindness and understanding of shared human experiences. This allows you time to heal, understand and care for yourself. Self-compassion involves embracing mindfulness as well as engaging with your thoughts and feelings.

Self-compassion is commonly a radical change in your thinking patterns. Learning to be self-compassionate takes times and can be challenging. Through the process of learning self-compassion, you need to remember to be patient with yourself and embrace change.

You can start with these three practices:

• Talk to yourself in the same way you would talk to a friend.
• Practice self-awareness to recognize your feelings and responses.
• Incorporate mindfulness, reflection and meditation into your life.

Self-love indicates an appreciation, affinity and positive regard for yourself. Similar to self-esteem and self-compassion, it reflects the understanding of your own value and the treatment of yourself in a loving way.

Self-love also doesn’t always mean that you need to feel positively about yourself all the time. During the trials and tribulations of life, we are bound to feel down about ourselves at some point during the day, week, month or year. However, practicing self-love positions us to move forward and forgive ourselves while growing from those experiences.

Without self-love, we are more likely to become increasingly self-critical and fall into people-pleasing habits that may not be in our best interest. Practicing self-love sets the foundation that allows us to set healthy boundaries with others and build positive, fulfilling relationships!

• Higher resilience and lower stress: Self-love equips us to be prepared and confident to face the challenges that we experience. Hardships aren’t something that hold you back, but are opportunities to grow.
• Feelings of empathy: When we learn to accept our own strengths and weaknesses, we can better do the same for others. This allows us to practice empathy and build deeper connections with those we care about.
• Focusing your energy: Setting boundaries and taking inventory of your personal needs is another way to practice self-love. Prioritize where you choose to spend your energy to find satisfaction within your life.

• Practicing positive self-talk
• Forgiving yourself and letting go of grudges or anger
• Meeting your own needs by prioritizing your health and well-being
• Surrounding yourself with those who build you up
• Recognizing and rewarding your strengths
• Valuing your feelings, both positive and negative
• Setting challenging goals
• Knowing your limits
• Accepting your imperfections