Thinking kind thoughts about yourself and your loved ones can prove beneficial for your overall wellbeing, empirical evidence has shown. Researchers carried out an investigation to explore the __26__ between having kind thoughts and a person´s psychological state.

For the study, five groups of participants were presented with a different set of audio instructions, some of which encouraged the participants to think __27__ about themselves and others which persuaded them to think in a self-critical manner. After listening to the audio instructions, the participants were asked to answer a series of questions. These included whether they felt safe, how likely they were to show kindness to themselves and how __28__ they felt to other individuals.

The participants who were instructed to think kindly about themselves were more likely to exhibit a bodily response associated with being relaxed and feeling safe. Their heart rates also dropped, which is a healthy sign of a heart that can respond flexibly to situations. Yet, __29__ those who listened to the critical audio clips were noted as having a higher heartrate and sweat response afterwards, both of which __30__ feelings of threat and distress. Having the ability to switch off the body´s natural threat response can __31__a person´s immune system. This, in turn, gives them a greater likelihood of recovering quickly from illness.

These findings help us to further understand some of our clinical trials research findings, where we show that individuals with __32__ depression benefit particularly from a self-awareness-based __33__ therapy. They essentially learn to become more sympathetic to themselves.

The sense is that for people __34__ to depression, meeting their negative thoughts and feelings with __35__ is a radically different way—that these thoughts are not facts.

It introduces a different way of being and knowing that is quite transformative for many people.