Compassion

How do you typically react to difficulties in life—work stress, feeling rejected, physical problems, or financial hardship? Most of us instinctively fight negative experiences and find fault in ourselves when things go wrong. This tendency adds stress and self-criticism that can worsen anxiety, depression, and other challenges.

Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) teaches a different approach—learning to calm and support yourself when you’re struggling, much like you would for a close friend. Self-compassion is a skill that can be learned by anyone and is a courageous mental attitude that helps reduce self-judgment and emotional reactivity.

With mindful self-compassion, participants learn to recognize stress, respond with kindness, and build emotional resilience. Research shows that self-compassion can increase happiness, reduce anxiety and depression, and support healthy behavior change.

The 8-week MSC program consists of weekly sessions in a group format, along with guided practices and opportunities to integrate mindfulness and self-compassion into daily life.

This training brings together MBSR/MBCT teachers to contemplate and engage in practice around their wishes for wellbeing and healing for our planet Earth.

The six sessions of the training cover all 10 MBSR/MBCT class sessions. The sessions are divided approximately in half: the first half is dedicated to Earth Awareness practice and time for sharing personal reflections and experiences; the second half allows time for considering and sharing ways of inviting Earth Awareness into the curriculum and MBSR/MBCT classroom. Teachers can share both their established ways and their discoveries around new possibilities for bringing Earth Awareness into their teaching. Together, we can engage in the challenge and the benefit of holding the Earth as a fully worthy recipient in the circle of MBSR/MBCT care, compassion and embodied action.

Teachers prepare for each meeting by engaging with practice and self-reflection prompts, reviewing selected materials, and reviewing the MBSR/MBCT curriculum for the sessions to be discussed. Teachers are encouraged to write and share between meetings and contribute to a collection of resources to support Earth Awareness. Each teacher will leave this training with a range of materials for continued inspiration.

Sessions include community building, Earth-based practice, reflection and sharing, curriculum review, and exploration of ways to bring Earth Awareness into MBSR/MBCT teaching.

This teacher development training is for MBSR and MBCT teachers. Some teaching experience is recommended.

How Can Mindfulness Help Kids?

Parenting is a journey filled with joy, but it also brings moments of real emotional challenge. We invite you and your child to join this first-of-its-kind online program, specifically designed to transform how you relate to one another. By integrating the core principles of mindfulness and self-compassion, this course provides the essential tools to navigate distress with grace and resilience.

What Is Mindfulness

Mindfulness teaches moment-to-moment non-judgemental awareness. It is simply learning to pay attention to our experience just as it is in each moment. Much of our stress occurs when we let our minds run on autopilot, which can lead to rumination and worry. Through simple practices, Mindfulness can improve emotional resilience and strengthen our capacity to respond skillfully to life's challenges. Essentially, Mindfulness empowers kids to live happier and healthier lives!

In this program, you and your child will explore ways to...

• Build a Foundation: Create a lasting base of warmth, security, and trust.
• Develop Resilience: Learn practical self-care skills for both parent and child.
• Meet the Moment: Approach difficult emotions with newfound awareness, kindness and respect.

Schedule and Registration

CFM requires a minimum of 10 registrants per program. Classes with fewer than 10 registrants will be cancelled and provided a refund. Please be aware of this when making arrangements to attend this program.

Please note: The child must be between the ages of 8–12. If you have more than one child who wishes to participate, you must register them separately. One to two parents may attend with their child.

The Short Course in Mindful Self-Compassion (SC-MSC) is a 6-week adaptation of the empirically-supported 8-week Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) program designed to begin the cultivation of the skills of self-compassion. SC-MSC was developed by Kristin Neff, PhD, the pioneering researcher in the field of self-compassion and Christopher Germer, PhD, a leader in the integration of mindfulness, compassion and psychotherapy. The SC-MSC 6-hour program was developed to allow participants to begin to learn a targeted set of MSC practices with less initial time commitment than the full 26-hour MSC program.  

Most of us feel compassion for our close friends when they are struggling. What would it be like to receive the same caring attention from yourself when you needed it most? All that’s required is a shift in attention—recognizing that as a human being, you, too, are a worthy recipient of compassion. Self-compassion involves the capacity to comfort and soothe ourselves, and to motivate ourselves with encouragement, when we suffer, fail, or feel inadequate. Self-compassion is learned in part by connecting with our innate compassion for others and including ourselves in that circle of compassion. The practice of self-compassion also helps to grow and sustain our compassion for others. 

The SC-MSC program draws on the skills of mindfulness and focuses on developing the resource of self-compassion to enhance our capacity for emotional wellbeing.  Burgeoning research shows that self-compassion is strongly associated with emotional wellbeing, coping with life challenges, lower levels of anxiety and depression, healthy habits such as diet and exercise, and more satisfying personal relationships. It is an inner strength that enables us to be more fully human—more fully ourselves. 

Fortunately, self-compassion can be learned by anyone, even those of us who did not learn these skills as children. 

This program is designed for members of the general public, based on the values of equity, diversity, inclusiveness and belonging. Meditation experience is not necessary to participate in SC-MSC. All are welcome!  

Program activities include short talks, experiential exercises, group discussion, and home practices.  SC-MSC is an opportunity to explore how we typically respond when difficulties arise in our lives and to learn tools for becoming a warm and supportive companion to ourselves.

Objectives

• Articulate the basic theoretical underpinnings and research findings related to self-compassion
• Develop and apply self-compassion practices to motivate themselves with encouragement rather than self-criticism
• Develop the capacity to contend with challenges and difficulties through awareness of self-kindness, common humanity and mindfulness.
• Apply core self-compassion practices into daily life
   

Note: You must be 18+ years old to join this program. A minimum of 10 registrants is required to run the program. Programs with fewer than 10 registrants will be cancelled and refunded.