How reciting positive affirmations and practicing ‘compassionate touch’ for just 20 seconds a day can improve mental health
- Researchers in California found that positive affirmations boosted mental health
- The results improved even further when participants practiced these more often
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It turns out that even speaking kindly to yourself for less than a minute a day can improve your mental health.
Researchers at the University of California Berkeley recruited more than 100 people to test whether self-compassionate touch, which involves placing your hands on your chest, could improve mental health.
This also included repeating statements such as “How can I be a friend to myself right now” to banish fear and self-doubt.
Eli Susman, author of the study, described the exercise as “a habit of being a caring friend to yourself when you think about moments that cause you to be hard on yourself.”
One group of participants was asked to practice the exercises for at least 20 seconds every day for a month.
The results showed that those who did had greater self-compassion, emotional well-being and less stress than those who did not.
The researchers said their “findings are the first to our knowledge to show that daily self-compassion touch can increase self-compassion.”
The researchers found that those who practiced positive affirmations daily had greater self-compassion, emotional well-being, and less stress than those who did not.
The study involved 135 UC Berkeley students over the age of 18. The average age of participants was 21 years and 69 percent of students were female.
The “micropractices” were intended to be easy and an alternative to current self-compassion therapies, which can be time-intensive – ranging from one to 20 hours of learning the technique and then another 2.5 to 40 hours of practice.
Susman said Fox News digital the students were given the following instructions: ‘You are invited to close your eyes.
“You should think of a recent mistake, a failure, or something about yourself that has been bothering you lately or making you feel unworthy, unloved, or not enough.
“And notice what arises in your body as you bring this to mind… sending kindness and warmth to yourself by bringing one hand to your stomach and the other to your chest with the energy of giving yourself a hug. .. allow yourself to embrace what arises in your body.
‘You are invited to ask yourself, “How can I be a friend to myself right now?”… and when you are ready, you can open your eyes.’
The team found that those who practiced positive affirmations daily had greater self-compassion, emotional well-being, and less stress than those who did not.
And mental health improved even more as participants spoke and touched more often with self-compassion.
Evidence has accumulated that high self-compassion is associated with multiple positive outcomes, including better mood and less stress, the study said.
However, the California researchers said they believe their latest findings show that daily self-compassion can also increase self-compassion.
The researchers acknowledged the study’s limitations, including the fact that the team didn’t tell people how often they should do the affirmations above the minimum.
Furthermore, the study had a small sample size and consisted only of students.
“The effects depended on practice: those who didn’t practice often didn’t improve,” Susman said.
He noted that additional research is needed among more varied populations and that these “micro practices” should not replace mental health care such as therapy and medication for those who need it.
The research was published in the April 2024 edition Behavioral research and therapy.