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Dr. Neff Self Esteem

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Of all the information that was discussed, the three critical points I think Dr. Neff made were that (1) self-compassion is a necessary component a person needs to have, (2) self-esteem can be a negative aspect in life, and (3) for a healthy and fulfilled life we need a combination of both self-esteem and self-compassion.
Before this video, I wasn’t aware that self-esteem could be a bad thing. I was always taught that I needed to have high self-esteem. In order to be confident and successful I needed to be satisfied with myself. Although, after Dr. Neff discussed how high self-esteem can actually be damaging to a person, I learned that having a balance between self-compassion and self-esteem is the better option.
I believe self-compassion …show more content…

As Dr. Neff mentioned, we have been taught that motivation comes from being critical of ourselves. We should pick out all the things that can be improved and work to make that happen. I agree with Dr. Neff as well that we are taught if we show compassion to ourselves we are weak. We are viewed as lazy and not driven enough. I believe media and social expectations also play a role in why self-criticism is such a big deal in today’s society. On TV and in magazines we are constantly exposed to criticism and over time we learn that self-criticism is what is normal and right.
This idea is a critical concept in how we think about stress reduction and prevention because if we understand the basis for self-criticism, we can work to create better avenues to self-compassion. As humans, we respond best to kindness and warmth. Through self-compassion we can feel those emotions and lower the level of cortisol that is release when we are negative toward ourselves. We know that positive emotions lead to lower stress levels, so, if we took a deeper look into self-compassion we might find the same

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