Journey 11 · Nurture
Self-Compassion Goes With Healthier Everyday Habits
Across 15 samples (3,252 people), people higher in self-compassion tended to report healthier eating, exercise, sleep and stress-management habits, a small link.
Researchers combined 15 samples, 3,252 people in all, to see how self-compassion relates to everyday health habits (Sirois, Kitner & Hirsch, 2015). People higher in self-compassion tended to report healthier eating, exercise, sleep and stress management, with a small average correlation of .25. Statistically, part of that link was accounted for by more positive and less negative feeling.
That is a correlation, and a small one, so it does not show that self-compassion causes the healthier habits. What it does show is that, across these samples, kindness toward yourself and the care people reported giving themselves tended to show up together rather than at odds.
In Journey 11, Nurture, guided by Nayeli, kindness is paired with one small daily act of care. Self-compassion sits in the middle of the journey’s Three-A as Acceptance, which meets a pattern without shame. What is one small act of care you could offer yourself today?
The research
Strong evidence Replicated findings and meta-analyses.
- Sirois, F. M., Kitner, R., & Hirsch, J. K. (2015). Self-compassion, affect, and health-promoting behaviors. Health Psychology, 34(6), 661–669.
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