So many people are harder on themselves than they are on others. Being critical of yourself and what you can or can’t do, and setting really high standards for yourself to reach, isn’t necessary for you to do well at school, in sport, and in life.

It’s really important to remember to be kind to ourselves in relation to our bodies too. Some people think and say things about their bodies and the way they look that are so mean, they would never say that about another person- and over time, this can start to hurt.

Sometimes these critical thoughts come up when you are comparing yourself to others- how you do at school or sport- we are going to learn how to turn down those critical thoughts and start accepting who we are.

Being kind to yourself, having self compassion, is good for you- and it feels good too!

If you picture your Inner Critic sitting on one shoulder, it’s the one that says mean things- like ‘you should’ve tried harder’, or ‘you’re so bad at that’. Now picture your Inner Cheerleader on the other shoulder- it’s the one that would say ‘you did your best’ and ‘there are so many other things you are good at’.

Being kind to ourselves means that we turn down the volume on our inner critic, or stop them from speaking up so much. When we start to listen to our inner cheerleader more and more, it starts to become more automatic – we start to respond to ourselves with kindness and compassion.

Researchers around the world have found that the people who are kindest to themselves report all sorts of benefits- like sleeping better, have less stress, anxiety, and depression, and have better physical health too.