Take Care Of Yourself – Self-compassion Increases Well-being

There are many different ways to interpret the concept of self-compassion. In psychology, this means the ability to be less critical and more forgiving of oneself, which means that one can have a more realistic perspective regarding one’s situation.

Self-compassion means that you treat yourself with empathy and that you are kind to yourself without criticizing your own mistakes. This will help you maintain your motivation without having to worry too much about succeeding at everything.

Thus, it represents an ability in emotional intelligence that is both reflexive and caring. It allows you to open up a space to get to know yourself, take care of yourself and care about everything that happens to you. In this way, you look inwards.

It is not always possible to get what you want and meet the expectations you set for yourself. So consequently, if you do not accept your reality, you may suffer from stress, frustration and self-criticism.

On the other hand, if you accept that reality as part of being human, you will experience positive emotions as compassion, which will help you get through each situation.

Consequences of lack of self-compassion

If you do not show compassion for yourself, you may experience the following:

• Anger and difficulty connecting with yourself due to your isolation.
• Irresponsibility, which means blaming others for your own suffering. When you have a black and white view of life, it is difficult to accept that you have the ability to change. You have that change in your own hands.
• Contempt is the feeling of inability and vulnerability that goes hand in hand with verbal and non-verbal expressions to show it.

• Despair makes it difficult to enjoy the moment and feel confident that better things will come.
• Speechlessness occurs when you feel lost and find no meaning in life.

In the absence of self-compassion, it is difficult to remember that it is possible to bring something good from each experience and know that it will help you in the future when you go through something similar.

Compassion for others and compassion for yourself

Compassion comes from the perception of someone else’s suffering. It comes from an open attitude where one does not judge the experience. In addition to just perceiving the suffering, it is about taking the initiative to relieve the pain.

Compassion is the ability to offer kindness to those who are suffering and to reach out to those who need it, even if it means involving yourself in their mistakes and weaknesses.

Self-compassion is having the same attitude to help and grace, but directed towards yourself. Here are some specific concepts that will help you understand it better:

• Kindness, which is an ability to be understanding and empathetic towards yourself when you feel inadequate, incompetent or non-assertive.
• Compassion. This means that you avoid isolation when you are suffering by realizing that there are many other people in the same situation. It means understanding that mistakes, imperfections and pain are part of the human experience.
• Attention. This is the ability to openly observe your experiences objectively without judging. It means keeping a balanced perspective on your emotions without denying or suppressing the pain or identifying yourself only with it.
• Self-compassion is strongly related to resilience, which is the ability to overcome trauma and come out stronger. This increases your ability to calm down, acknowledge your mistakes and learn from them.

Self-compassion is also associated with emotional well-being, optimism, life satisfaction, autonomy and wisdom, and contributes to the reduction of anxiety, stress and shame.

Benefits of showing self-compassion

When you have very high expectations and direct your criticism inwards, the discomfort becomes greater if it does not go the way you want. This is because the perfectionism you impose on yourself increases feelings of frustration and inability.

Through self-compassion, you can find a balance in how you treat yourself when things do not go your way. You can do this by listening to yourself and putting guilt and judgment aside.

Self-compassion helps to promote self-respect and self-empathy. You learn to take care of yourself instead of criticizing when you suffer or feel that you have failed.

People with high self-compassion show a greater perspective on their problems and feel less isolated. They may also experience a decrease in their anxiety levels and an increased awareness of their problems.

With self-compassion, you can deal with negative thoughts better with the development of emotional regulation. Positive emotions increase and help to create feelings of social connection and life satisfaction.

In this way, it is possible to maintain a clear perspective and more cognitive flexibility, as well as a higher ability to adapt to change.