The Life-Changing Art of Compassion

Learning to be kind to yourself is more than a trendy slogan—it's the most effective way to transform your mental health, says Just a Thought clinical lead Anna Elders.

We live in a culture that is much more comfortable with putting ourselves down, than raising ourselves up.

'In 20 years of practice, what I've found humans struggle with the most is learning to be kinder to ourselves. Helping people increase their ability to be self-compassionate has been the most successful way to help people transform their mental health,' says Just a Thought Clinical Lead Anna Elders.

Learning to listen to our comforting voice is not going to turn us into 'snowflakes'—it actually helps build resilience and makes us stronger. Self-compassion is about learning how to talk to ourselves the way we would talk to a friend.