Be Compassionate – To Yourself

Dr. Adrienne Leslie-Toogood

In sport, we often strive to be our very best.  We seek perfection.  And on the path to perfection, we can be incredibly hard on ourselves.  Although we feel like striving needs to include harsh criticism, this drive can often result in a tendency to be so focused on the goal that we miss the journey there.  Kristin Neff is a researcher who talks about the idea of self-compassion (selfcompassion.org).  Self-compassion means treating yourself the way you would treat someone you cared about or asking yourself, “what do I need right now”.  Self-compassion includes recognizing when we are struggling with acceptance and not judging, being supportive and understanding to ourselves, and realizing that no one is perfect and in fact we are not alone.  If we can learn to be more self-compassionate, we can enjoy the journey and relish in all the incredible moments along the way.