“Self-Compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we would give to others.”.
– Christopher Germer

Mindful Self Compassion (MSC) is at the cutting edge of self-care and resilience training.  It combines the skills of mindfulness and self-compassion to provide a powerful tool for emotional resilience.  Self-compassion is strongly associated with improved physical, mental, emotional health and wellbeing. It can support the maintenance of healthy habits such as diet and exercise and has been shown to lead to greater resilience and strength.

MSC is an empirically supported 8-week programme developed by Kristin Neff, PhD, a pioneering researcher and professor at the University of Austin, Texas and Christopher Germer, PhD, mindfulness teacher and psychotherapist.

The programme teaches core principles and practices that enable us to respond to difficult moments in our lives with kindness, care and understanding.  It also enables us to offer the same compassion to ourselves that we would extend to our loved ones. Click here for more information on Mindful Self Compassion and its benefits

The programme involves 8 live, 2.5-hour teaching sessions and a half day retreat.  It is delivered in a workshop style and includes meditations, short talks, experiential exercises, informal practices, and group discussions. The intention is for participants to directly experience self-compassion and learn practices that evoke self-compassion in daily life. The teaching sessions will be held online, over Zoom

• How to stop being so hard on yourself
• How to handle difficult emotions with greater ease
• How to motivate yourself with encouragement rather than criticism
• How to transform difficult relationships, both old and new

• Mindfulness and self-compassion practices for home and everyday life
• How to become your own best teacher
• The arts of savouring and self-appreciation
• How to manage empathy fatigue
• How to apply self-compassion practices in daily life

MSC is a skill that can be learnt by anyone.   The programme is open to adults of any age and everyone is welcome with or without previous mindfulness or meditation experience.  A commitment to some form of mindfulness and self-compassion practice between sessions is strongly encouraged.   We provide practice downloads, session summaries, and additional online resource material to support you between sessions.

This 8-week programme fulfils one of the prerequisites for becoming an MSC teacher. For more information on MSC Teacher Training requirements, please click here MSC Teacher Training Requirements.

I am a Certified Mindful Self Compassion teacher and I co-facilitate this programme with Orla Burchael (MSC teacher, Clinical Psychologist and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction teacher). The presence of two MSC teachers ensures an optimal safe and rich learning environment for the group.  Please see the “Associate Teacher” section of the website for more information about Orla.

“Loving-kindness and compassion are the basis for wise, powerful, sometimes gentle, and sometimes fierce actions that can really make a difference – in our own lives and those of others”.
– Sharon Salzberg