People generally think of self-compassion as a "soft" emotion that helps us comfort, reassure, and nurture ourselves. Today a pioneer in the field of compassion research, Dr. Kristin Neff, joins the show to explore the fierce side of self-compassion, including how it can help us draw healthy boundaries, take necessary action, and stand against injustice.

About Our Guest: Dr. Kristin Neff is an Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. She conducted the first empirical studies on self-compassion almost twenty years ago, and is the author of Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself. On June 15th she'll be releasing her new book: Fierce Self-Compassion: How Women Can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim Their Power and Thrive.

Watch our conversation on YouTube here!

Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.

Key Topics:

1:50: How is fierce self-compassion different from “typical” self-compassion?

5:50: The balance of fierceness and tenderness.

7:45: The importance of fierceness for women.

17:15: Practices that support fierce self-compassion.

20:30: Applying fierce self-compassion internally.

25:40: The harms of traditional gender role socialization.

32:10: What behaviors were you rewarded for?

34:45: Research on the value of self-compassion.

40:40: The impact of self-compassion on motivation.

45:15: Committing to our own well being.

50:45: How men can support women.

55:00: A message to your younger self.

57:15: Recap

Sponsors:

From Dr. Hanson: The Foundations of Well-Being brings together the lessons of a lifetime of practice into one year-long online program. Podcast listeners can use the code BEINGWELL25 at checkout for an additional 25% off! Please don't hesitate to apply for a scholarship if you're in need.

Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!

Want to sleep better? Try the legendary Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.

Start a new healthy habit with Seed! Visit seed.com/beingwell and use code BEINGWELL to get 20% off your first month of Seed’s Daily Synbiotic.

Build healthy habits with Most Days! Download it in the App Store or go to MostDays.com/beingwell for more information.

Connect with the show:

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices