It is no surprise to me and I expect won’t surprise you either that people who treat themselves with compassion feel better about themselves and have better coping skills – are more able to respond rather than react to disappointments and setbacks.
The September 2014 research study at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, by Kelly et al., 2014 makes the point. 153 female undergraduate students studied in this research on self-compassion, self-esteem, eating disorder pathology and body image flexibility were less reactive to the other people’s criticism and judgments of their body image. The study states “among young women, self-compassion may help to protect against the greater eating disturbances that coincide with a higher body m ass index (BMI), and may facilitate the positive body image experiences that tend to be lower the higher one’s BMI.”
In my own coaching practice, training in mindfulness and self-compassion goes hand in hand. Observing without judgment is the first step. Creating inner space for you to experience what it is you are feeling becomes possible only once you learn to SLOW DOWN, a simple mindfulness self-training tool to help you do just that:
SLOW DOWN
S – Stop and breathe
L – Look and Listen within and without
O – Open, ground and release all you no longer need or want
W – Welcome in the spaciousness of being in the NOW
D – Draw down and into your Centre, develop awareness
O – Open to and OWN your experience without judgment
W – Wonder at your capacity for Inner Peace
N – Now, tune into the Stillness and ask for what you want.
My Three Wishes for You….
That you will SLOW DOWN and notice what you are noticing.
That you will appreciate and honour your experience in the moment, without judgment.
Above all, that you think of yourself with deep appreciation and compassion releasing your self-judgments and criticisms and instead listen deeply to that within you that wants to emerge and offer the same kindness and compassion towards this inner emergence that you may already be offering to others.
Emotional awareness gives rise to self-compassion. Befriend your emotions and know thyself.
Learn more about how to live a mindful life and the 12-step journey we offer you to become a mindful, authentic leader of your life.
About Julia von Flotow
