Offerings
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC)
8 Week Course
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) is an empirically-supported 8 week course designed to cultivate the skill of self-compassion. MSC combines the skills of mindfulness and self-compassion to enhance our capacity for emotional well-being.
The course was developed through the clinical expertise of Dr Chris Germer (Clinical Psychologist) and Dr Kristin Neff (Research Psychologist and a Pioneering Researcher in the field of Self-Compassion).
The three key components of self-compassion are self-kindness, a sense of common humanity, and balanced mindful awareness. Kindness opens our hearts to our suffering, so that we are able to give ourselves what we need. Common humanity opens us up to our essential interrelatedness, so that we realise that we aren’t alone. Mindfulness opens us up to the present moment so that we are able to accept our experience with greater ease. Together they comprise a state of warm-hearted, connected presence.
What will you learn?
Self-compassion can be learned by anyone. It’s a courageous attitude that stands up to harm, including the harm that we unwittingly inflict on ourselves though self criticism, self isolation, or self absorption. Self-compassion provides emotional strength and resilience, allowing us to admit our shortcomings, motivate ourselves with kindness, forgive ourselves when needed, relate wholeheartedly to others, and be more authentically ourselves.
Rapidly expanding research demonstrates that self-compassion is strongly associated with emotional wellbeing, less anxiety, depression and stress, maintenance of healthy habits such as diet and exercise, and satisfying personal relationships.
Over the eight-week course, you will learn to:
Practice mindfulness and self-compassion in daily life
Understand the science of self-compassion
Use self-compassion to live in accordance with your values
Handle difficult emotions with greater ease
Motivate yourself with kindness rather than judgement or criticism
Work with challenging relationships
Manage caregiver fatigue
Practice the art of savouring and self-appreciation
How does the Mindful Self-Compassion 8 Week Course work?
The MSC 8-Week Course is taught over 8 sessions of 3 hours each per week, including a half day practice retreat after week 5.
Following is a brief outline of the 8 weeks:
This course is designed for everybody - teachers, doctors, nurses, mothers, fathers, friends, psychologists, social workers, care-givers, wellness practitioners, business owners - everyone is welcome. Meditation experience is not necessary to participate in MSC.
The course activities include discussion of topics, experiential exercises, meditation, small group interaction, and home practices.
MSC is an opportunity to explore how we typically respond when difficulties arise in our lives and to learn tools to become a warm hearted and supportive companion to ourselves.
The MSC course is an adventure in self discovery and self-kindness.
Self-compassion has the paradoxical effect of both soothing our emotional distress as well as opening us to the pain that we may have been unconsciously holding inside, often for many years. Therefore, some difficult emotions could surface during the course as we grow in our capacity to embrace and heal them. We are committed to providing an environment of safety, support, privacy, individual responsibility, and a common commitment to developing compassion for oneself and others.
MSC is therapeutic, but it’s not therapy. The emphasis of the course is on enhancing our emotional resources to meet emotional challenges, old and new. MSC is also not primarily a type of mindfulness training: MSC is mindfulness-based compassion training in which the quality of warmth and kindness is emphasised more than awareness itself.
MSC participants are asked to practice mindfulness and self-compassion at home for up to 1/2 hour per day during the course.
In a randomised, controlled study, MSC significantly increased self-compassion, compassion for others, mindfulness, and life satisfaction, as well as decreased anxiety, stress and depression. Improvements were linked to how much a person practiced in their daily lives.
“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”
― Buddha