Self‑compassion often feels harder than compassion for others because our bodies default to threat mode under stress. By practicing soothing touch and signaling safety to the nervous system, we can shift from self‑criticism to care, building resilience and calm through small daily acts.
As AI becomes more integrated into our daily lives, I’ve been reflecting on how it might help us to deepen the practice of self-compassion—not by replacing human connection or inner wisdom, but by amplifying it.
As AI becomes more integrated into our daily lives, I’ve been reflecting on how it might help us to deepen the practice of self-compassion—not by replacing human connection or inner wisdom, but by amplifying it.
Every day we are bombarded with upsetting and frightening news – whether it’s devastating wildfires, plane crashes, wars, mass shootings, acts of cruelty or seeming madness. Self-compassion provides a refuge from the storm as we try to navigate stressful and uncertain times.
Self-compassion can help you both prevent and recover from burnout. For this reason I recently teamed up with my dear colleague Chris Germer to write a book about it and the book launches September 9th!
When Rowan was first diagnosed, I didn’t recognize the hidden gifts of his autism. I was scared and worried and often felt overwhelmed by the challenges – language delay, intense tantrums, and learning difficulties. My ability to allow compassion to flow inward to myself as a parent as well as
Given that our internal emotional landscape colors our experience 24/7, one could argue that it’s most important to direct goodwill inward. When we are kind and supportive with ourselves, we create a benevolent mindset that provides the resources to give to others.
Think about what happens when you get some sort of written evaluation and there are nine positive comments and one negative one. Which do you focus on? As Rick Hanson likes to say, the mind is like Teflon for positive information and Velcro for negative information.
Generational pain is everywhere, and when we start to open our hearts through self-compassion practice we will likely run into it. Pain stemming not only from our connections to those who were hurt and oppressed in the past but also to those who hurt and oppressed others.
During the holiday season, a lot of different thoughts and emotions are sure to arise. There may be happiness and satisfaction from connecting with our loved ones and the spirit of giving. There may also be a sense of dissatisfaction or lack, especially if our relationships aren’t what we would
Fall is upon us. Some of us are sad to see the hot summer days go, others can’t wait for the leaves to turn and temperatures to cool. Most of us can agree that a world with only one season would be much less interesting than our continually changing weather
As part of understanding our history, it’s important to see clearly how gender bias colors our perceptions of others and ourselves. Although the last 30 years have seen significant gains for women in terms of education and access to leadership positions, stereotypes have barely budged.
It’s common for us to feel uncomfortable about our bodies. We may judge them as not thin enough or attractive enough or strong enough or young enough or healthy enough.
An important part of self-compassion is extending kindness and care to the physical form we inhabit, appreciating its gifts rather
When we can remain caring even in instances of distress, failure or sorrow, our loving-kindness manifests as compassion. It’s therefore important that we strengthen our ability to feel loving-kindness toward ourselves in order to become more self-compassionate.
