Did you know that being self compassionate doesn't mean taking a bubble bath or awkwardly scheduling aside time to relax and try yourself. In fact, there are some simple strategies you can use to show yourself self compassion that could drastically influence your happiness and productivity. Professor Kristin Neff is a pioneer in the study of self compassion, and her work in the field and multiple best selling books on the topic have seen her become recognized as one of the most influential people in the field of psychology. So I caught up with her to get some insight on how we can all be more self compassionate. Welcome to How I Work, a show about habits, rituals, and strategies for optimizing your day. I'm your host, doctor Amantha Imber. On today's quick Win episode, we go back to any to be from the past and I pick out a quick win that you can apply today. When I spoke to Professor Kristin Neff, she spoke about the power of taking a self compassion break to work through problems and challenges that we might be struggling with to help us better understand it Kristin actually gave us a real time walk through of a self compassion break so that we can listen and apply it to ourselves.

Did you know that being self compassionate doesn't mean taking a bubble bath or awkwardly scheduling aside time to relax and try yourself. In fact, there are some simple strategies you can use to show yourself self compassion that could drastically influence your happiness and productivity. Professor Kristin Neff is a pioneer in the study of self compassion, and her work in the field and multiple best selling books on the topic have seen her become recognized as one of the most influential people in the field of psychology. So I caught up with her to get some insight on how we can all be more self compassionate. Welcome to How I Work, a show about habits, rituals, and strategies for optimizing your day. I'm your host, doctor Amantha Imber. On today's quick Win episode, we go back to any to be from the past and I pick out a quick win that you can apply today. When I spoke to Professor Kristin Neff, she spoke about the power of taking a self compassion break to work through problems and challenges that we might be struggling with to help us better understand it Kristin actually gave us a real time walk through of a self compassion break so that we can listen and apply it to ourselves.

All Right, So we might want to close your eyes. You don't have to close your eyes in real life, but it helps, especially in this context, to go inward. Okay, And so I'd invite you to think about something in your life that's troubling you or causing you stress. Perhaps it is something to work, some stress or you're experiencing, or maybe you've made some mistake or feel like a failure at something. It also might be in your personal life or relationship issue, or even be a health issue. I would invite people with this not to think of anything that's too stressful or overwhelming, because if you're overwhelmed, you're even going to be able to learn the practice. So choose something that's mild to moderately distressing. Call the situation to mind, what's happening, what's going on? See if you can feel the discomfort of what's happening in your body. Notice usually those feelings of contraction or unease. Well, bring in mindfulness, just to become aware of and be present with the fact that it's hard to be feeling this or it's hard to be in this situation. I'm hurting. We don't want to ignore it. The other hand, we don't want to lose ourself with it. We just want to see it, be with it as it is. This is hard. And also to remember that things like this they're part of being human. There are probably literally millions of people experiencing something similar. You know, some worse, maybe not as bad. But the point is mainly that you are a human being. This is part of the shared human experience. You are not alone. There's nothing wrong with you or whatever it is you're worried about or thinking about. And this is part for the course, it's part of being a human being. We make mistakes, we struggle, stuff happens. You aren't perfect, No one's perfect, no one's life is perfect. Knowing about you too, go ahead and put maybe both hands on your heart, or full your arms, or maybe cradle your face, use some sort of physical gesture. It really brings some physical warmth and support to yourself. Express our kindness through touch and also any words of support, kindness and encouragement that are exactly what you need to hear right now, whatever your situation is, you know, perhaps it's something like you're doing the best you can, or you've got this, I'm here for you, I won't abandon you. What do you need? And in fact, you might imagine what you would say to a friend who is in the exact same situation you were, maybe easier to think of the appropriate thing to say. If you think of what if you had a good friend it was in the exact same situation you were, would you say to be supportive and kind and helpful, encouraging, maybe just validating, and then see if you can see something similar to yourself. Okay, then you can open your eyes. So we did a slightly longer one to show the steps, but you can do it really quick.

All Right, So we might want to close your eyes. You don't have to close your eyes in real life, but it helps, especially in this context, to go inward. Okay, And so I'd invite you to think about something in your life that's troubling you or causing you stress. Perhaps it is something to work, some stress or you're experiencing, or maybe you've made some mistake or feel like a failure at something. It also might be in your personal life or relationship issue, or even be a health issue. I would invite people with this not to think of anything that's too stressful or overwhelming, because if you're overwhelmed, you're even going to be able to learn the practice. So choose something that's mild to moderately distressing. Call the situation to mind, what's happening, what's going on? See if you can feel the discomfort of what's happening in your body. Notice usually those feelings of contraction or unease. Well, bring in mindfulness, just to become aware of and be present with the fact that it's hard to be feeling this or it's hard to be in this situation. I'm hurting. We don't want to ignore it. The other hand, we don't want to lose ourself with it. We just want to see it, be with it as it is. This is hard. And also to remember that things like this they're part of being human. There are probably literally millions of people experiencing something similar. You know, some worse, maybe not as bad. But the point is mainly that you are a human being. This is part of the shared human experience. You are not alone. There's nothing wrong with you or whatever it is you're worried about or thinking about. And this is part for the course, it's part of being a human being. We make mistakes, we struggle, stuff happens. You aren't perfect, No one's perfect, no one's life is perfect. Knowing about you too, go ahead and put maybe both hands on your heart, or full your arms, or maybe cradle your face, use some sort of physical gesture. It really brings some physical warmth and support to yourself. Express our kindness through touch and also any words of support, kindness and encouragement that are exactly what you need to hear right now, whatever your situation is, you know, perhaps it's something like you're doing the best you can, or you've got this, I'm here for you, I won't abandon you. What do you need? And in fact, you might imagine what you would say to a friend who is in the exact same situation you were, maybe easier to think of the appropriate thing to say. If you think of what if you had a good friend it was in the exact same situation you were, would you say to be supportive and kind and helpful, encouraging, maybe just validating, and then see if you can see something similar to yourself. Okay, then you can open your eyes. So we did a slightly longer one to show the steps, but you can do it really quick.

I hope you enjoyed this little quick win with Professor Kristen Deff. If you would like to listen to the full interview, you can find a link to that in the show notes. If you like today's show, make sure you get follow on your podcast app to be alerted when new episodes drop. How I Work was recorded on the traditional land of the Warrangery People, part of the Cooler Nation

I hope you enjoyed this little quick win with Professor Kristen Deff. If you would like to listen to the full interview, you can find a link to that in the show notes. If you like today's show, make sure you get follow on your podcast app to be alerted when new episodes drop. How I Work was recorded on the traditional land of the Warrangery People, part of the Cooler Nation