in the media
THE POWER OF human kindness
Dutch researcher and author Rutger Bregman thinks there is a reason to believe people are inherently good. Bregman’s book, Humankind, sets out to prove that we are hardwired for kindness, geared toward cooperation...
READ FULL ARTICLEsee pdf attachedMe Time
When you still your mind, you will hear what your heart is whispering,” Anna Friis repeats gently. It’s a wild day in Waihi and the rain is heavy on the tin roof as waves crash on to the beach. Inside the surf club, where 16 women have gathered for a weekend retreat of mindfulness and self-compassion, it’s cosy and inviting — candles have been lit and flowers are scattered.
READ FULL ARTICLEsee pdf attachedSelf-Compassion for Diabetes: How Kindness Can Influence Your Health
Showing yourself compassion is good for your mind and body, especially if you have diabetes. Let’s face it: The constant finger pricks, the counting of carbs, and the frustration over high or low blood glucose numbers can wear you down. People with diabetes are twice as likely to experience depression as people without diabetes, and both depression and the stress of managing diabetes are linked to poor glucose control, suggests a review published in June 2015 in the the journal Lancet.
READ FULL ARTICLEsee pdf attachedSelf-compassion may help diabetics control their disease
(Reuters Health) – Learning to be less harsh or judgmental and more compassionate to oneself may help people with diabetes manage their disease and stave off depression, a recent study suggests. Diabetes can be a stressful disease, the study team writes in Diabetes Care. The “relentless demand for healthy blood glucose control presents daily opportunities for failure and, thus, attacks on the self . . . (and) the practice of self-kindness may reduce psychological suffering,” they write.
READ FULL ARTICLEsee pdf attachedHow mindful self-compassion could change your life
It was week seven of the eight-week course when I had my central emotional and spiritual breakthrough. Roughly 16 of us were lying on the floor with eyes closed, trying to recall a moment from our lives about which we felt angry or bitter but not too angry or bitter, something like a three or four on an anger/bitterness scale of 1-10.
READ FULL ARTICLEsee pdf attachedPsychologist Anna Friis explains how self-compassion can help people heal
Stress-related illness is a 21st-century plague for people in the developed world. Health psychologist Anna Friis is at the forefront of prescribing kindness and self-compassion.
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