If you need a kindler, gentler inner voice, you might consider taking up meditation. New research suggests self-critical people were significantly more compassionate toward themselves after engaging in the practice.

The study, published in the journal Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, also suggests a particular technique — known as “loving-kindness meditation,” rooted in Buddhism — may be particularly helpful in reducing symptoms of depression, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The study, which involved 38 people who engaged in 90-minute weekly sessions, found that practicing the technique activated a “soothing-caring regulation system” that is probably deficient in chronic self-critics, the researchers said.