Fierce Self-Compassion: How to Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim Your Power, and Thrive

The bestselling author of Self-Compassion follows up her groundbreaking book with new ideas that expand our notion of self-kindness and its capacity to transform our lives, showing women how to balance tender self-acceptance with fierce action to claim their power and change the world.

Kristin Neff changed how we talk about self-care with her enormously popular first book, Self-Compassion. Now, ten years and many studies later, she expands her body of work to explore a brand-new take on self-compassion. Although kindness and self-acceptance allow us to be with ourselves as we are, in all our glorious imperfection, the desire to alleviate suffering at the heart of this mindset isn’t always gentle—sometimes it’s fierce. We must also act courageously to protect ourselves from harm, practice setting boundaries so we can meet our own needs, and motivate necessary change. Traditional gender roles demand that women be soft and nurturing, not angry or powerful. But like yin and yang, the energies of fierce and tender self-compassion must be balanced for wholeness, personal growth, and wellbeing.

Drawing on a wealth of research, her personal life story and empirically supported practices, Neff demonstrates how women can use fierce and tender self-compassion to succeed in the workplace, engage in caregiving without burning out, be authentic in relationships, and end the silence around sexual harassment and abuse. Most women intuitively recognize fierceness as part of their true nature, but have been discouraged from developing it. Better women's mental health depends on our ability to reclaim our power in order to create a healthier society and find lasting happiness. This wise, caring, and enlightening book shows women how to reclaim balance within themselves, so they can help restore balance in the world.

This paradigm-shifting book offers a roadmap for women to harness their full power through:

• Balancing Yin and Yang: Learn why tender self-acceptance (yin) must be combined with fierce, courageous action (yang) for wholeness, emotional healing, and wellbeing.
• A New Model for Empowerment: Move beyond traditional gender roles that demand women be soft and nurturing, and reclaim the protective fierceness that is part of your true nature.
• Evidence-Based Practices: Draw on a wealth of research and empirically supported exercises to build resilience, succeed at work, and prevent caregiver burnout.
• Personal Growth and Authenticity: Discover how to be authentic in relationships, protect yourself from harm, and use your voice to end the silence around injustice.