“Allow a gentle smile on your mouth, you can kind of feel how it shifts the entire physiology. So that’s kind of a concrete, physical way of shifting into this attitude of welcoming and safety.”

Insights at the Edge’s Tami Simon speaks with Shauna Shapiro about the neurology of self-image and why conscious acts of self-compassion greatly enhance our well-being. Shauna comments on practicing mindfulness with warmth and open affection, as well as how this gradually cultivates empathy. Tami and Shauna also talk about “trusting the good heart” and the possibility of changing our baseline levels of happiness. Finally, they discuss why changing ingrained habits is so difficult and the subtle power of the daily self-affirmation, “Good morning. I love you.”

Dr. Shauna Shapiro is a professor, author, and internationally recognized expert in mindfulness and compassion. Nearly one million people have watched her TED talk called “The Power of Mindfulness,” rated one of the top ten talks on mindfulness.

With Sounds True she has written a new book called Good Morning, I Love You: Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Practices to Rewire Your Brain for Calm, Clarity, and Joy, where she brings alive the brain science behind why we feel the way we do about ourselves, each other, and the world, and she explains how we get stuck in thinking that just doesn’t serve us. What I loved about talking with Shauna Shapiro is that here she is, a scientific researcher, PhD clinical psychologist, and she helps us understand the brain science behind how a very simple act, an act any of us can do each morning and say to ourselves, “Good morning, I love you,” might be one of the most powerful acts we can take on a regular basis.

What we practice grows stronger. Good morning, I love you.

Listen to conversation

Enjoy!