The suffering itself is not so bad; it’s the resentment against suffering that is the real pain. — ALLEN GINSBERG, poet - Christopher K. Germer

Self-compassion has the “gleam of the particulars,” as poet Naomi Shahib Nye might say. The details of our lives are necessary to contact the deeper meaning of our daily experience.

Actually, when bad things happen to us, we tend to have three unfortunate reactions: self-criticism, self-isolation, and self-absorption. Neff’s three components of self-compassion direct us exactly in the opposite direction: self-kindness, recognizing the common humanity in our experience, and a balanced approach to negative emotions.

Self-compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we would give to others.