June 08, 2019

Quote of the Week

"If you want to lift yourself up, lift someone else up." - Booker T. Washington

How Self-Compassion Supports Academic Motivation And Emotional Wellness

"Many of today’s parents and teachers came of age in the 1980s and 1990s — a time when the self-esteem movement was in its zenith. Self-esteem was supposed to be a panacea for a variety of social challenges, from substance abuse to violent crime. The research, however, did not support such broad claims.

If teachers and parents want children to develop resilience and strength, a better approach is to teach them self-compassion, said Dr. Kristin Neff, a psychology professor at the University of Texas and author of Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself. “Self-esteem is a judgment about how valuable I am: very valuable, not so good, not valuable at all.”

In contrast, “self-compassion isn’t about self-evaluation at all,” said Neff. “It’s about being kind to oneself. Self-compassion is a healthy source of self-worth because it’s not contingent and it's unconditional. It’s much more stable over time because it is not dependent on external markers of success such as grades.” [read more]

Reading Corner

Title: Listening with My Heart: A story of kindness and self-compassion
By: Gabi Garcia
Ages: 4+

"Kindness matters! Especially to ourselves.
We talk to kids a lot about how to be friends to others. Not much about how to be friends to themselves.  Yet, positive self-talk and self-acceptance help build emotional resilience, happiness and well-being.  Along with Esperanza, your child can learn the importance of being a friend to ourselves! This beautiful book also touches on the universal themes of friendship, empathy and kindness." - Publishers

Be the Change

Take some time to reflect on your own practices as a parent and identify one or two small shifts that you'd like to make in order to model self-compassion in your life. Share how that is shifting you on the inside and see possibilities of bringing small mindfulness practices in your daily routine with your children.