Self-compassion as a mark of humanity

Self-compassion involves treating yourself with the same kindness with which you'd treat a loved one. Self-compassion consists of three ingredients:

• Self-kindness: Offering warmth and understanding to yourself.
• Common humanity

• Thinking independently: The ability to think autonomously goes hand in hand with trusting your own instinct.
• Embracing your individuality.
• Striving towards your own goals, bravely.

It’s important to remember that self-reliance is not about cutting yourself off ...

Particularly in the West, people have adopted a propensity for self-criticism as a cultural value, and tend to self-punish when dealing with setbacks and failures, she says. But excessive self-criticism gets in the way of achieving your goals. 

There are three parts to practicing se...