Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself

Allow yourself to fully dive into the sensation of dread or lethargy or whatever is coming up for you when you think about the task. Can you feel the emotions in your body, holding them in nonjudgmental, mindful awareness?

is not a culturally valued response.

Skilled therapists can also help change insecure attachment bonds by providing unconditional support to their clients. The safe space and deep listening provided by a therapist allows access to the deep-rooted patterns formed in our childhood, bringing them to the surface so they can be re-formed.

unconsciously hoping that I could magically transform the experience of rejection into one of acceptance.

A. List up to ten aspects of yourself that play a significant role in your self-esteem—things that either make you feel good or bad about yourself (job performance, role as parent, weight, etc.).

but it didn’t last long. It seemed phony to her and took way too much effort.

We don’t need others to respond with care and compassion in order to feel worthy of love. We don’t need to look outside ourselves for the acceptance and security we crave.

Research shows that people tend to think they’re funnier, more logical, more popular, better looking, nicer, more trustworthy, wiser, and more intelligent than others.

As if excluding them was even possible.

When we experience warm and tender feelings toward ourselves, we are altering our bodies as well as our minds.