Mindful Self-Compassion

We are always hardest on ourselves

All of us struggle with an inner critic that nags us about the ways we are falling short.

When we leave a positive performance review, we obsess over the one point of constructive criticism.

When we make a minor mistake, we entertain worst-case scenarios and call ourselves an idiot or a loser.

We quickly jump from, “This is a painful moment” to “I will never be successful at anything.”

It is impossible to succeed if there is no
room for failure

Behind every great performance is an artist who had to be willing to experience rejection in order to find success. Behind every great invention are scores of failed attempts.

If failure is a normal part of success, what happens when we are controlled by a nagging voice carefully calculating all our missteps? When our inner critic takes up too much space in our head, we remain paralyzed by indecisiveness and inaction.

Not only is this internal bully making us feel terrible in this moment, it is sabotaging our future moments as well. Growth comes from a willingness to be imperfect, messy, emotional, and vulnerable. If we can’t allow ourselves to fail, we miss out on the joys of life as well.

Moving from internal bully to internal ally

Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) is the first step in emotional healing – being able to befriend oneself.

When we can pause and notice our judgments and self-criticism, we have the opportunity to replace the harsh words with kindness. Rather than reacting with our well-worn, self-defeating habits and patterns, we can choose how to respond to ourselves in moments of suffering.

Through our Mindful Self-Compassion courses you will learn to be a friend to yourself rather than your own biggest critic. You will practice treating yourself the way you would treat a dear friend or a beloved pet.

Additionally, you will learn how your body responds physiologically to self-kindness vs. self-criticism.

You will learn to navigate challenging emotions and challenging relationships with greater skill and ease, and you will practice motivating yourself with compassion to make lasting positive changes.

Burgeoning research shows that self-compassion is strongly associated with emotional well-being, coping with life’s challenges, lower levels of anxiety and depression, healthy habits, and more satisfying personal relationships.

Many clients say it feels impossible to believe they can change their inner dialogue, but with practice anyone can learn to be more compassionate with themselves!