Valentine’s Day prompts many of us to send messages of love to the special people in our lives. But I’d like to propose a new tradition. Why not use this day to start being kinder to ourselves?
Being nice to yourself, particularly during a personal setback or a stressful experience, is known among psychologists as self-compassion. It’s a simple concept — treat yourself as kindly as you would treat a friend who needs support — but it’s one that most people find exceedingly difficult to adopt.
“We tend to give compassion to others much more readily than we do ourselves,” says Kristin Neff, one of the field’s leading researchers and a professor of human development and culture at the University of Texas at Austin. “The good news is that it can be learned. It’s a skill anyone can cultivate.”
[For more on this story by Tara Parker-Pope, go to https://www.nytimes.com/2019/0...ice-to-yourself.html]
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