Episode 266: Self-Compassion for Anxiety with Dr. Russell Kennedy
Join Kelli and Dr. Russell Kennedy as they chat about what self-compassion is, common barriers/challenges, work-arounds, and more! Spoiler alert: This episode aims to bring the abstract idea of self-compassion down to earth, so that it's accessible to anyone!
To tune into the episode, listen on iTunes or Spotify.
Show Notes
Kelli and Dr. Russell Kennedy discuss the power of practicing self-compassion, especially when struggling with anxiety and alarm.
What is self-compasion? Self-compassion is the essence of healing!
Benefits include increased resilience and increased motivation to make changes and reach our goals.
Kelli and Dr. Kennedy discuss how they have benefited from the practice as well as the barriers they faced to practicing self-compassion.
Kelli shares how it felt abstract and inaccessible at first. Finding practical applications helped.
Dr. Kennedy shares how he felt resistance to self-compassion, at first.
Kelli:
If I catch myself asking “what’s wrong with me?”, I’ll simply ask “what do I need right now?” I’ll switch gears from trying to solve or fix, which completely overlooks my expeience and is quite dehumanizing, to actually listening and understanding what I’m feeling and what might support me. 8 times out of 10 the answer is a 10-15 minute power nap!
Other times it’s too feel grounded by walking on the grass or hugging my friend Mandy.
Somatic exercises, like butterfly hug. My body really likes any type of tapping over my thymus gland on my chest.
Resourcing. Imagining a place or person I feel warmth, joy, light, and safety. Even when I was completely consumed by panic attacks, my mom or husband would instill some sense of safety, that’s why I reached out the them!
Dr. Kennedy:
I imagine my younger self and sometimes even look at a picture while beaming love, kindness, and support.
It doesn’t really matter what we “do” to show ourselves self-compassion, it’s more about the essence of holding ourselves in a warm, loving, and kind regard, like we do with a pet or loved one!
