As a freshman in high school, depression swept over me like a tidal wave.

At the time, I was captain of the cheerleading team. We were on our way to becoming NY State Champions. I was wildly popular, too. I was dating the quarterback of the football team and I was invited to every important party in town.

Oh, and my waist was a perfect size 00. And I was in all honors and always scored above 90%.

Many would say I had the perfect life. But then, depression kicked the crap out of me. Within 6 months I had quit the cheerleading team.

I gained 20 pounds. I started cheating on my tests because I had no energy to study any more. My boyfriend broke up with me. And I lost almost all of my friends.

It was the worst chapter of my life, and it went on for nearly 10 years. I tried therapy. I tried every medication in the book. But nothing really made a dent.

Until I learned how to practice self-compassion. That was the tipping point where everything started to change.

So in today’s video blog, I’m going to talk to you about my struggle with depression and how I used self-compassion turned things around. I’m also sharing the self-compassion meditation I use today to get me through  any tough times.