Right up until he passed away, Dr John Hinwood was a prolific blogger (an award-winning blogger in fact!). John’s blog’s shared musing from a rich history of experience, learnings, travel and wisdom.
The Hinwood Institute is named in honour of Dr John and to continue his legacy, we’re republishing his blogs to keep his wisdom, wit and wise words alive for the world to enjoy.
You can learn more about the legacy of Dr John Hinwood HERE.
The Negativity Bias and Stress
Our brain is programmed in the negative, so we are always primed to be alert to danger and engage our fright, fight, and flight mechanism to support us in times of major stress and danger.
The pace of life now means most of us are performing a balancing act in trying to stay calm and experience some peace in our lives from time to time. In Australia and the US, surveys report that 75% to 90% of the population say that they are experiencing excessive stress in at least one area of their lives.
The Role of Self-Compassion in Stress Management
An area that is often overlooked in our personal stress management plan is engaging in self-compassion.
How often are you harsh on yourself when you make a mistake, or you don’t attain a goal you have set for yourself? A clear majority of us tend to beat ourselves up when things go wrong. It has been found by Harvard University that using a little more self-compassion in your life will support you and helps you to develop emotional resilience.
Benefits of Self-Compassion
Forgiving and nurturing yourself seem to have benefits that support us. Research has revealed that the more we personally care for ourselves, creates better health, enhanced relationships, and it raises the level of our general well-being.
Engaging in self-compassion has been found this can lower levels of anxiety and depression. Self-compassionate people recognize when they are suffering and are kind to themselves at these times, thereby lowering their own levels of related stress, anxiety and depression.
Self-compassion is like emotional resilience, we can learn how to create it in our lives.
Some people are naturally self-compassionate, while others must learn the skill, and then craft how they can make it part of their way of life.
Here are five ways to support you in developing your own self-compassion skills in life:
1. Welcome mistakes.
See them as learning experiences that enhance our lives and create way more opportunities for personal growth and long-term achievement.
2. Encourage yourself.
What would you say to a good friend if they were facing a difficult or stressful situation. So, when you find yourself in a similar of situation, treat yourself to these compassionate responses
3. Write yourself a letter.
Think of a situation that has caused you to feel very stressed. Write a letter to yourself describing the situation, but without blaming anyone—including yourself. The key here is to nurture your good feelings
4. Mindfulness practice.
The power of meditating for a few minutes, can be a great way to nurture and accept yourself while we’re stressed.
5. Nurture your body.
Lie down and rest. Eat something healthy. Massage your hands. Take a walk, especially in a park or nature. Anything you can do to improve how you feel physically enhances your self-compassion.
P.S. If you’d like to know how likely your stress will lead to ill health, you may try our Stress Test below.
How well do you roll with the punches?
How it works:
- Answer 25 simple questions
- Generate results instantly
- Receive feedback to enhance your score
Listen to the Podcast here
About the Author
Dr. John Hinwood is a Global Leader in Stress Management. He is a very experienced and respected executive coach, mentor, consultant, sought after international speaker and author. He specialises in facilitation that leads clients out of the stress and into the calm. He has a reputation for innovative and transformational work in stress-life balance and mindset change for front line employees, to managers and business leaders.
Dr John Hinwood has shared the stage with Dr John Demartini, Dr Deepak Chopra, Dr Wayne Dyer, Dr Joe Dispenzia, Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield (Chicken Soup for the Soul fame), Dr Bruce Lipton, Dr Masaru Emoto and others who are at the cutting edge of human behaviour and mindset change.
He has written 14 books with 4 being Amazon international best sellers. He has had papers published in academic journals and was once Captain/Coach of the Danish National Rugby Team. Dr. John’s experience as a health professional by training, successful businessman by effort and an inspiration by inclination has given him an awesome array of practical tools for success.