Mindful Self-Compassion
„He who wishes to develop true compassion toward others must first achieve a foundation upon which he can cultivate compassion– and this foundation is the ability to connect to one’s own feelings and to care for one’s own well-being…. In order to care for others, it is necessary to care for one’s self.“ (Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama)
What is Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC)?
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) is an eight-week training course that was specially developed to cultivate kindness and compassion toward oneself. Studies confirm the high rate of efficacy of the course and leads the participant on a journey of self-discovery and personal transformation. We desperately need compassion for ourselves: in our performance-oriented society we learn so much, but often fail to learn how to be kind to ourselves when things do not go well for us. Often we put ourselves under even more pressure with internal reprimands such as “Now you have gone and screwed up again!” “I am a failure!” or even worse, rather than dealing with ourselves the way we would a good friend.
Learning to provide kind and loving guidance to ourselves is immensely relieving. We can train compassion, empathy and kindness towards ourselves like a muscle and thereby better regulate our feelings. Even when we are unable to avoid adversity in our lives, we are able to learn how to deal with difficult emotions in a constructive way and strengthen our souls. MSC teaches the participant the essential principles and practices for encountering difficult moments in life with kindness, care and understanding.
The goal is to further develop the three key components of self-compassion:
- Kindness to ourselves: so that we can give to ourselves that which we truly need.
- The experience of shared humanity: so that we can experience that we are not alone with our problems.
- Balanced, aware consciousness: awareness opens the present moment for us, so that we can perceive our experience with more composure.
Extensive and growing research shows that self-compassion is a preventative measure in our psychological health, by reducing depression, anxiety and stress, as well as improving emotional wellbeing and life satisfaction.
What to expect:
Most importantly meditation, exercises for self-experience and -awareness, exchange in a group setting, and short presentations will facilitate direct experience and self-compassion. Exercises to use at home as well as an intensive 4-hour session (half-day retreat) aid in a deeper understanding of your self-compassion practice.
The goal of the 8-week MSC course is to build up self-compassion as an inner resource in order to develop the resilience our psyche needs for confidently managing the challenges we face in our lives.
No prerequisite experience in mindfulness or meditation is necessary for participation in this course.
You will learn the following in the course:
- How to deal with stress in a mindful and compassionate way
- How to use mindfulness and self-compassion in your everyday life
- Develop a better understanding of the meaning of self-compassion
- How to cope better with difficult feelings
- How to motivate yourself with self-affirmation instead of self-criticism
- How to work with challenging relationships
- How to cope with care-related fatigue
- The ability to strengthen your emotional wellbeing
…plus you will receive a free copy of the eBook “Compassion in Everyday Life and Research”
Dr. Tania Singer and Dipl. Psych. Matthias Bolz of the Max Planck Institute for Cognition- and Neuroscience in Leipzig have made their comprehensive multimedia eBook “Compassion in Everyday Life and Research” available for free download.
Events and Rates:
On request
Free Information Day:
On request
Contact:
+43 676 554 27 33
christine@compassionate-being.com
