Why short practices might matter

The value of mindfulness and self-compassion practices is often recognised, but it can be challenging to integrate these into a busy life. Even if motivated to do so, time is often a constraint. Recent research has begun exploring whether very brief practices, woven into everyday life, might still offer benefit.

What are micropractices?

Recognising how challenging it can be to integrate formal meditation, mindfulness, or self-compassion exercises into daily life, Eli Susman coined the term ‘micropractices’ and sought to investigate their potential value.¹ A micropractice might for instance involve a brief act of placing one’s hand over one’s heart as a gesture of kindness and compassion towards oneself, or taking a slow, deliberate breath. The intention is to integrate mindful presence into moments that are already part of one’s day, meeting what one is presently doing with a little more awareness.

The research behind micropractices

Underpinning micropractices is Susman and colleagues’ investigation into the effects of daily short self-compassion exercises.² Self-compassion could simply be understood as ‘compassion directed inward’.³

Susman and co-researchers examined whether a brief daily self-compassion practice could lead to measurable psychological change in university students. Participants were randomly assigned either to practise twenty seconds of self-compassionate touch each day for a month, or to a control group who practised a neutral finger tapping exercise daily. The compassionate touch practice, adapted from Kristin Neff’s work on self-compassion as well as research by Aljoscha Dreisoerner and colleagues on self-soothing touch and stress reduction, involved placing a hand on the body, often over the heart, and intentionally bringing a sense of warmth and kindness to one’s experience.³,⁴ Both groups of participants received a single teaching session in which their respective exercises were explained and demonstrated.

Outcomes were measured using established self-report questionnaires assessing self-compassion, perceived stress, habit formation, and other psychological measures. Among participants who practised most days, those in the self-compassion group (hand over heart and self-directed warmth) showed an increase in self-compassion and reductions in stress compared to the control group (merely finger tapping).

What this might mean in everyday life

The findings suggest that even very brief practices following a single teaching session may have value, particularly when engaged with consistently. While not necessarily a substitute for dedicated time set aside for mindfulness and self-compassion practices, micropractices appear to suggest that small, repeated acts of kindness towards oneself may gradually foster self-compassion and shape how one relates to stress.

 

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1. Micropractice, “Micropractice,” accessed February 6, 2026, https://www.micropractice.com/micropractice

2. Eli S. Susman, Sereng Chen, Ann M. Kring, and Allison G. Harvey, “Daily micropractice can augment single-session interventions: A randomized controlled trial of self-compassionate touch and examining their associations with habit formation in US college students,” Behaviour Research and Therapy 175 (April 2024): 104498, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2024.104498

3. Kristin D. Neff and Christopher K. Germer, “Self-Compassion and Psychological Well-Being,” in The Oxford Handbook of Compassion Science, ed. Emma M. Seppälä et al. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017), 371, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190464684.013.27.

4. Kristin Neff, “Exercise 4: Supportive Touch,” Self-Compassion, accessed February 19, 2026, https://self-compassion.org/exercises/exercise-4-supportive-touch/

5. Aljoscha Dreisoerner, Nina M. Junker, Wolff Schlotz, Julia Heimrich, Svenja Bloemeke, Beate Ditzen, and Rolf van Dick, “Self-soothing touch and being hugged reduce cortisol responses to stress: A randomized controlled trial on stress, physical touch, and social identity,” Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology 8 (November 2021): 100091, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpnec.2021.100091