It is the start of a new year and when this happens what does everyone do, besides party and drink a little bit too much? Well, of course they think up new year resolutions, which they quickly say to themselves are a waste of time and already decide that they won’t last long. Recently I was thinking about how critical I can be to myself, but kind to others, at least I think so. Therefore, I decided that it would be a good idea to change all that. I heard about a thing called self-compassion, and maybe it is worth giving a try.
Last year I did a blog entry on compassion fatigue. It is an interesting concept about how people can be overwhelmed by the amount of compassion that they have to give to others, either professionally or personally. Self-compassion is about becoming compassionate towards yourself, as the concept suggests.
Research was conducted on fifty students that engaged in self-compassion and it was found that there were reductions in anxiety and depression as a result of these self-compassion interventions. The students were interested specifically in reducing self-criticism rather than increasing self-kindness, and experts believe that this is one of the main reasons why self-compassion techniques are successful.
I would like to spend a couple of weeks going over this concept and starting with ways that we can increase self-compassion. One way that interested me is to journal about self-compassion. Specifically, to write yourself letters. If you read my blog, you will know that I write at least once a week and I find it very rewarding. If my blog can reach just one person, I believe that it will help them with some tips for improving their mental health. Writing to oneself has the potential to help you even more.
There are many things that you can talk about, but the most important thing is to be genuine with your feelings and always be looking at ways that you can improve yourself. What you write about is up to you, but I prefer to write about subjects such as; What is one good thing that you have done for yourself today? What is something that is special about you, and how can this quality be used to inspire others? What is something you are afraid of and something you are confident about? What are the main feelings and differences between these two things, and can your feelings change?
Experiment with yourself. Think about different topics to build compassion for yourself and this should in turn help others. If you would like someone to talk to about this topic, I am available. You can contact me via this website, email, or Facebook.
storysolutionstherapy@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/CounsellorTrent/
https://twitter.com/Story_Solutions
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9005396/
