Not enough people possess self-compassionkindness toward themselves. Surprisingly, research shows that its the people who are supportive towards others that are more likely to see failures in themselves (i.e. being overweight.)
But people who give themselves a break tend to be happier and are less likely to suffer from depression and anxiety.Data suggests that self-compassion can also influence how much one eats and may even help some people lose weight.
Dr. Kristin Neff, an associate professor of human development at the University of Texas at Austin, connects self-compassion to motivation. For example, most parents would go to great length to help their child who struggles in school or eats unhealthily.
But many adults who experience similar situations themselves, like a difficult boss or weight gain, dont help themselves in the same way. Instead, most people self-criticize and feel even less motivated to change. Neff explains, The reason you dont let your children eat five big tubs of ice cream is because you care about them. With self-compassion, if you care about yourself, you do whats healthy for you rather than whats harmful to you.
Neff has found that one of the main reasons people arent self-compassionate is due to a fear of becoming self-indulgent. They believe self-criticism is what keeps them in line. Our culture says being hard on yourself is the way to be.
