A new study suggests that we were onto something. Natasha Odou and Jay Brinker at the Australian National University found that writing about a negative experience from a self-compassionate stance significantly improved mood by allowing people to process (rather than avoid) negative emotions. [….]
These findings contribute to the growing realization that self-compassion practices generate positive outcomes—more well-being in general, more life satisfaction, personal initiative and social connectedness—and protect us from negative experiences of rumination, self-criticism, shame, anxiety, and depression.
– from How Self-Compassion Beats Rumination, Greater Good Science Center
It’s good to see this entering mainstream science.
It’s what many ordinary people have observed over the millennia: the medicine we so often seek is our own kindness and love.