Increase self-compassion
Just two minutes a day to improve your stress levels
Can you reduce the amount of stress you experience with a simple 20 second daily practice?
Work produced by Berkeley’s Golden Bear Sleep and Mood Research Clinic suggests you can.
Susman and colleagues found that a simple self-compassion micro-practice lowers stress levels and improves mental health. So long as you practice daily for a month. But don’t worry, it only takes a couple of minutes.
What to do:
Close your eyes and call to mind something about yourself that has been bothering you and making you feel unworthy, unloved or not enough and notice what arises in the body
Place one hand over the belly and one over the heart with the energy of “giving yourself a hug” and notice what arises in the body now.
Ask yourself “How can I be a friend to myself in this moment?”
Doing this daily for just 20 seconds has been proven to make a significant difference to well-being.
You can watch the video from the original study here:
How it works
Self-soothing touch has been shown to reduce our levels of cortisol. Try patting the area over your heart or stroking your cheek when feeling anxious or upset whilst saying soothing words out loud to yourself where possible. Although we are cognitively aware that we are touching ourselves, our skin responds in very similar ways to when we experience soothing touch from others.
Similarly, first person self-talk out loud (using your name rather than “I”) to offer yourself soothing words has also been shown to be as effective as someone else offering comfort or encouragement. There’s some evidence that when we say this out loud, our brains make use of this information as if it has been offered by someone else.
In sensorimotor psychotherapy clients are encouraged to be more attentive to how their inner bodily experience matches their thoughts and emotions. In regularly practicing active self-compassionate words and touch, many people find they have a much greater ability to self-soothe than they’d previously believed.
And finally, if you want to read the original research relating to this video about self- compassion, you can find it here
Don't forget to practice daily for 30 days to try and install the habit.
If you struggle to feel compassionately towards yourself, you’re not alone. It’s a big factor in why people seek out therapy. If you’d like to understand how therapy could help you develop a better attitude towards yourself, feel free to get in touch for a complementary consultation here
