Kindfulness : The trend of self-compassion

It was reported recently in the Guardian, in a piece on recent ‘up lit’ novels, that kindness is making its mark in the literary world, with big-hearted stories featuring tenderness, companionship and compassion rising to the top of the bestseller charts and infiltrating our reading. This was no surprise to us at Yellow Kite – while we may not publish novels, we are very aware of the ‘mood’ within our wider culture, and we noticed a movement towards kindness and self-compassion in terms of trends within MBS and the wider world. This trend was reflected in a recent article in Stylist magazine, which refers to this ‘kind renaissance’ as a response to the edgy political climate in which we find ourselves; if there’s one thing we can do in the face of all this anxiety, it’s spread kindness and give others – and ourselves – a lift.

We asked our mindfulness author, Padraig O’Morain, to tackle this topic in his new book, Kindfulness: Be a true friend to yourself with self-compassion. Padraig told us that his online course, ‘True Friend – an introduction to mindful self-compassion’, was his most popular course, which confirmed our thoughts about ‘kindfulness’ or this idea that being a friend to yourself, and combining that with mindfulness practice, would form a powerful way to stop the nagging self-critic in your head and help you accept yourself as you are. Self-compassion also helps spread compassionate feelings amongst others, bringing with it a feeling of calm, of being better able to cope and of being a happier human being.

Padraig has since delivered his manuscript and it’s a winner: a hugely practical book with tips and advice on stepping away from constant self-criticism, stress and burnout with mindful self-compassion, advice on embracing your imperfections, being kinder to yourself, and letting mindfulness into your life to improve your relationship with yourself, as well as your relationships with your friends and family. His gentle, encouraging voice, along with the experiences of people to whom he has taught mindful self-compassion, make this an uplifting and positive guide.

True self-care really does start inside – and with this warm, engaging book, complete with a 7-day course in self-compassion, you can take steps to be kinder to yourself and the person you already are, to be more aware of common humanity and making the world a better place, and of the real power of mindfulness.