Mindfulness for self-compassion

NEIL BAILEY: Mindfulness can reduce the amount of self-criticism we experience in a number of different ways. Firstly, just in terms of cognitive function, the better we are at controlling our attention, the more we can shift our attention away from self-critical thoughts and to potentially the bigger picture. Research has shown that around 20% to 40% of the variability in depression, anxiety, and quality of life can be explained by how self-compassionate somebody is. So how compassionate they are towards themselves. Research has also shown that some of the effects that are positive of mindfulness intervention, for example, improved emotional regulation, can be directly explained by improved attentional control leading to improvements in self-compassion.