3 Mantras To Help Harness Self-Compassion

During or after a stressful situation, it is very common for people to speak to themselves in a negative way. The way you speak to yourself can make all the difference as to whether you spiral out of control or not. If you have a mantra that can help you establish a sense of calm during times of stress, you may avoid overwhelming panic. That can help give you the strength to move on!

Within the past several years, researchers have identified that self-compassion can help you cope with stress. People with higher self-compassion have healthier coping mechanisms in times of stress. On the other hand, people with lower levels of self-compassion tend to use harmful coping mechanisms that only intensify feelings of stress, according to 2021 research. Regardless of stress, self-compassion is a powerful tool that can propel you through the best and worst of times. 

Self-compassion is one of the most powerful coping and resilience tools you have as a person. It is readily accessible in your tool belt, but not everyone uses it. Fortunately, you can practice being more compassionate towards yourself. Like most things in life, practice makes perfect. To help start you out on the right path, consider the following mantras and information about self-compassion. 

3 Self-Compassion Mantras That Beat Stress

During times of stress, or a stressful situation, you can choose from one of these mantras. Each one covers a component of compassionate self-talk. 

• Mindfulness: This is difficult, but it is only temporary.
• Common humanity: I’m not alone.
• Self-kindness: I’m here for you. What do you need right now?

Put them together like this, “This is difficult for me, but I’m not alone. Other people have gone through similar situations, too. Hey, self, I’m here for you. What can I do for you right now?”

While you are reciting these mantras, you can incorporate soothing self-touch, which is a practice that can help enhance stress reduction. Place your hands on your body, such as touching your face, holding your hands, putting your hands on your heart, or giving yourself a hug. Soothing touch can help reduce stress hormone levels and stimulate the vagus nerve, releasing oxytocin, the feel-good hormone that helps you calm down and feel better. 

What Is Self-Compassion? 

Defined as the ability to soothe yourself with non-judgemental kindness, self-compassion is a powerful tool that can help you reduce stress. Statistically, the more self-compassion you have, the fewer mental health challenges, such as anxiety, depression, and stress, you will face. Self-compassion is like a muscle, which will strengthen if you condition it. That just takes practice and some mild discipline on your part. 

Now, there are three integral components to self-compassion: mindfulness, common humanity, and self-kindness. Self-compassion also helps you avoid isolation, self-judgment, and over-identifying with your stress, which causes you to be overwhelmed by it. Continue reading to learn more about the three aspects of self-compassion.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a pretty straightforward word, but it can be a hard practice to put into place. Ideally, you direct your full focus to what you are doing, the space you are moving through, and what is happening. This sounds relatively easy, but the mind tends to wander. Don’t ignore your stress, or it will become a problem. Stress that you store in the body only builds on itself, and that leads to chronic stress, which is associated with other health problems. Some powerful and easy mindfulness-related self-compassion mantras are:

• This is difficult, but only temporary.
• It’s hard to feel this way.
• Stress is painful and difficult.
• This is just a moment of difficulty that will pass.

Self-Kindness

If a friend was in the same stressful situation or feeling the same feelings, what would you tell them? Now, tell yourself the exact same thing. Self-kindness is truly about supporting yourself, covering yourself with loving warmth, and finding out what you need to get through the moment. Self-kindness is basically emotional self-care, and practicing it can make stress feel less intimidating. Sometimes, all you need is to be assertive and establish boundaries with other people. Other times, you may suffer from stress, but you have the power to give yourself emotional support. Here are a few self-kindness mantras to practice:

• What do I need right now?
• I have permission to give myself the compassion I need.
• I am going to get through this
• Let me be kind to myself in this moment.
• What do I need in order to be well?

Common Humanity

The third and final component to self-compassion is common humanity. Everyone experiences stress because that’s part of life. Once you realize that stress is common and that everyone else is going through similar situations, you can feel better and make the situation less overwhelming. Here are a few examples of common humanity mantras:

• Stress is just a part of life.
• I’m not the only one experiencing stress.
• There is nothing wrong with feeling this way.
• Stress is part of being human.