Self-Compassion: I Don't Have to Feel Better than Others to Feel Good About Myself

The book,"Self-Compassion" really helped me discover the difference between self-esteem and self-compassion. I love the exercises throughout the book. I already keep a gratitude journal, but I read some good tips on how to get the most from the journaling experience. :) Being truly thankful is one of the most vital things we can do for our mindset. Following a morning mindset ritual is also very helpful. I like to take a few deep breaths, drink two large glasses of lemon water and do some yoga in the morning. I take my time to wake up and enjoy the quietness of the morning before I make breakfast and wake the kids up to get ready for school. I also use essential oils in the morning and throughout the day. Peppermint and lemon essential oil do wonders for your brain chemistry. The section about daily self-compassion was especially helpful for me. I actually neglected myself for many years though..My teens and 20’s were rough, but I am finally learning how to truly love and accept myself in my 30’s. It is a process... For many years I felt like I was in prison because I allowed other people to influence my thinking, actions and even beliefs. I really was a doormat and in some ways because of codependent issues that existed in my family. I met my husband early in life (16-years ago), and his mother was very abusive towards me. I became very co-dependent because I wanted to fix everything in her life. Meanwhile, I was neglecting myself. This went on for years, until my husband and I learned how to set healthy boundaries and rebuild our self esteem. His mother suffers from Borderline Personality disorder, but we didn't discover this until recently.I can truly think for myself now and this is very liberating. I love books like this because it just helps me affirm some things I already know and I always learn something new as well. I gleaned quite a bit of new and interesting information from this book. This is why we must set healthy boundaries and learn how to have true compassion for ourselves First!Some days are better than other days. Mediating and following through with the exercises in this book has proven to be very helpful.

Thank you Simeon for writing such a beautiful book on discovering and connecting to our true selves. There were so many moments while I was reading this book that resonated with me. I am a big fan of inner peace and meditation; and found that this book gave me "zen" moments all the way as I was reading it.This book has helped me (and will I believe will also help you as a reader) understand better how to follow Nature's order to unfold myself instead of forcing myself to a certain direction, accept myself in a more peaceful, understanding and accepting way, stay more centered and become more aware.Love the fact that I am reminded by the book that "nothing lasts; nothing is perfect; and nothing is finished". This has taught that nothing is permanent (or everything is changing all the time), and that there is no need to grab onto things and claim them to be our own possessions.Here is one of my favorite quotes in the book: "as we attain one goal, the next goal immediately becomes apparent. Can you let go of the need to have closure, and just life unfold as it will?" LOVE IT! I tend to have a big list of goals and always cannot wait to finish them all at once. This piece of gold advice helps me calm myself and remind me that things will slowly unfold and their divine order. I just need to be more patient and receive signals sent by my higher self.Thank again for this great book and inspiration. I will definitely reread this and highly recommend this book to everyone.

This book is exquisitely beautiful. I really admire the author's standpoint about self-compassion.SELF-COMPASSION, its meaning sounded so vague to me at first. I have never had any experience talking about it with someone, I never had read any books about it. I believe this is one of the topics that people do not really talk much about or write much about.I am thankful this book introduced self-compassion to me and changed my perspective about being compassionate as a whole, I mean being or having a self compassion and compassion for others.I loved every chapter of the book, I thought the book was quite lengthy at first but that did not really matter when I get to the end , I wanted to read some more -- I even wished the book was longer. The book flow is great and each pointers were explained in a comprehensible manner. I was able to get a better grasp when self-compassion was compared to self esteem and the graph was very very helpful.The story about the empty boats and the balloons being blown back and forth are inspiring. This book is worth reading, worth keeping and sharing. Excellent!

It’s a small book that you can finish in an hour. It’s a fairly amateur effort. Lots of repetition. I found a few pages useful- one of parenting and some of the exercises. The rest is best avoided. The contrasts of self compassion with self esteem comes from a flawed understanding of the latter, and shows the lack of the depth of the author’s understanding of the topic. When authors write books like these they shouldn’t charge for them out of a moral obligation, since they haven’t spent much effort on it and have created a mediocre output.

I found this book to be a real "breathe of fresh air"it was able to succinctly and clearly point out to me what had I been doing with mySelf on my journey.This pitfalls and comparisons between self compassion and the often unknowing limitation of the elusive concept of self esteem.If only the real difference was explained to me nearly 30plus years I could have saved myself an enormous amount of heartache.For me this is not a one time read but can re-read over and over again to allow its deep message to sink into the mind and in time dwell in the Heart .Worth every penny and a whole lot more.A priceless read and shows us a rich and healthy alternative out of the emotional rat-race we can play that very often drain us and leave us feeling empty and still craving that real connection with ourselves.Genuine praise to this author.Im much mentally,emotionally and spiritually richer as a result of putting into practice this awareness has physically benefited me also.

I bought this for my 16 year old daughter who is struggling with self esteem issues and bullying at school, I couldn't have found a better book. I read it first to make sure the content was appropriate and not misleading. This is a perfect book. It's a very small book but I consider that an advantage as I don't think she would have wanted a very big book. This is an excellent book for this topic especially for a young mind.

Very good book and although it's only short, it contains all you need to know about self-compassion.I read it in one morning and it's effects have stayed with me.I would recommend it for anyone maybe having counselling therapy if they are working through issues of self abuse and low self esteem, stress etc. it's like a whole counselling session in one publication!!I will read through it several times more as it's a book I could not put down and have learnt much from its pages.

This is a fabulous book and immediately went into the 'second read' pile.Understanding that self esteem is different to self compassion is a big awakening for me. I also liked the many exercises in putting yourself in the right place too.If you need help with acceptance, then look no further!