It has been demonstrated that one of the components of mindfulness
meditation, called self-kindness, plays a prominent role in alleviating distress
perception, and reducing depressive symptoms, especially among younger women
with breast cancer (BC), who represent a particularly vulnerable patient population,
often struggling not only with a serious illness but also with numerous family and
work-related obligations.
This chapter will describe in detail self-kindness as a technique to help ease distress,
anxiety, and depressive feelings, as well as enhance resilience and establish objective
health-related expectations or goals for patients with cancer, including women with
an aggressive subtype of BC, such as triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
Keywords: Anxiety, Distress, Depression, Emotion regulation, Mindfulness meditation, Mindful awareness practice (MAP), Mindfulness-based interventions (MBI), Resilience, Rumination, Self-kindness.
