Ten Percent Happier Ep 510
Sharon returns to the Ten Percent Happier Podcast with Dan Harris in episode #510 to talk through the idea that love— both self-love and other love— is a skill that can be cultivated with massively positive impacts. On this show, Dan talks with eminent meditation teachers, top scientists, and even the odd celebrity. In this episode Sharon and Dan talk about:
The definition of self-hatred and its predominance in the West
The real practical benefits of self-compassion
Whether there is a difference between self-compassion and self-love
Why many people resist the idea of self-love
The distinction between empathy and compassion and how they work together in Buddhism
How to have lovingkindness for somebody who doesn't feel we have the right to exist
Reclaiming words like love and happiness
And how generosity makes us more whole
It might be hard to find a more annoying cliché than self-love; it can seem empty and inactionable. And even if you could make it work, I think many of us suspect it would lead to complacent resignation or unbridled narcissism. But there is an enormous amount of evidence that self-love, or as the scientists call it, self-compassion, can make you more effective in reaching your goals as well as lead to better relationships with everybody around you.
