BEAT Emotional Eating with Self-Compassion Strategies | Kristin Neff

2 Oct

Podcast

Many of us think self-compassion is just about being kind to ourselves, or even perhaps that it implies a sense of laziness or self-indulgence. But Dr. Kristin Neff, a women who has been researching self compassion for over 20 years has completely challenged these ideas.

Dr. Neff is one of my biggest sources of inspiration, and has influenced both my work and how I show up for myself, so for me this conversation was personally one of those ‘pinch me’ moments and I had to save the best for last to end season 14.

Dr. Kristin Neff PhD, is a professor in educational psychology, and the world's expert on self-compassion having established it as a field of study.

In my conversation with Dr. Neff she reveals how self-compassion is a powerful tool for motivation and resilience, explaining why our culture, and even our evolutionary instincts, work against it. Our brains are not naturally wired to be kind to ourselves, it's one of the reasons we can struggle to relate and connect it doing it.

Self compassion can sometimes been seen as an Eastern/Buddhist philosophy but we delve into the science of self-compassion and how it's linked to burnout and even to emotional eating. We explore insights on gender differences in self-compassion and the famous "donut study" - one of the first studies in self compassion which showed how self compassion can help with weight loss.

Skip to 15 minutes and 15 seconds to uncover some self-compassion techniques for managing burnout.

This conversation hit close to home, being someone who has experienced burnout - even recently ending up in hospital because of it. Dr. Neff breaks down complex concepts like the three elements of self-compassion in a way that's easy to understand and apply to daily life.

Remember, being kind to yourself isn't a luxury - it's essential for wellbeing. And the best part? It's free and available to everyone, anytime. I'd like to hear your thoughts on this episode. Has it changed how you think about self-compassion?

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