What is Self-Compassion? Have you ever thought about how you treat yourself when you’ve made a mistake, struggled to live up to your standards, or failed at something?
Often, people forget to show themselves self-compassion are always self-critical.
But what’s self-compassion, by the way, and how can you benefit from it? How can someone build a self-compassionate mindset?
All of these questions are answered in this post.
What is self-compassion?

If you didn’t know yet, self-compassion refers to being understanding and kind toward yourself in situations of failure or pain instead of being harshly self-critical.
That’s somewhat broad, and one sentence hardly does the concept justice.
Self-compassion is:
Humanity.
Acknowledging that you aren’t alone in the mistakes you make or the difficulties you encounter.
Self-Kindness.
Being understanding and supportive towards yourself during a tough time instead of being self-critical.
Mindfulness.
Acknowledging when struggling or stressed without being judgmental or overreacting towards yourself.
What are the benefits?

A study confirms that self-compassionate people don’t criticize themselves every time they fail, supporting a nurturing internal environment in which you can more:
- take on new challenges.
- modify unproductive behaviors.
- admit mistakes and gain a thorough understanding.
On top of that, research shows that self-compassion supports more stable, noncontingent feelings over time and provides against anger, self-rumination, public self-consciousness, and social comparison.
Compared to self-esteem, self-compassion was discovered to have no connection with narcissism.
In short, you better concentrate on trying to enhance your self-compassion than your self-esteem.
Five tips to self-compassion.

Here are some tips you may want to consider doing to be more compassionate towards yourself:
1. Do things that bring happiness to you.
You deserve to feel happy, and often, you need to fake it until you make it. Make a time for doing things that bring you joy and happiness.
Even the act of trying new things could make you feel happy, whatever your current skill level might be.
2. Practice mindfulness.

Mindfulness teaches you to connect with the present. Notice your thoughts without judging them. It is an excellent way to exercise not judging yourself.
3. Remind yourself that perfection does not exist.
Perfectionism can destroy your thinking. The concept that you need to do everything perfectly or not at all is disparaging.
Remember that you don’t need to be perfect, and that’s not reasonable anticipation to have of yourself.
4. Write a letter to yourself.

Did you know that writing can help you get in touch with your emotions and lower the sense of shame you feel for your feelings?
Write yourself a letter from a place of compassion and kindness.
5. Forgive yourself.
Is there something you need to forgive yourself for? Take note that holding on to those feelings of shame and guilt will make you feel worse in the end.
Look at what’s bringing those emotions for you.
It will help if you write that down in your journal so you can revisit it when that old shame appears again.
Being compassionate to yourself sounds easy, but it can be challenging to break the habit of being mean to yourself. Building self-compassion is something that takes effort and time.
Read more:
How to Boost Your Self-Confidence with the right mindset!
Acceptance of Yourself: A Beginner’s Guide.
Take Time for Yourself for your Happiness.
What’s Self-Awareness? 5 Tips to become a Happier you!