Mindful self-compassion
Last night was Week 4 of the Mindful Self-Compassion course I’m doing with Paul Johanson . I discovered self-compassion early last year and read, enjoyed and took to heart Kristin Neff’s words. I was also fortunate enough to attend a workshop with her in July of last year. The next step seemed to be the Mindful Self-Compassion programme. I’m interested in doing this course because I want to put this stuff into practice. To be able to reach for it when I need it. But, as Paul pointed out last night, it isn’t just a coping strategy. It’s deeper than that. And that both scares and excites me.
It’s tough going. But I’m ok with that. It wouldn’t be particularly self-compassionate of me not to be, would it? Part of last night’s session was about being honest about how we’re all finding it. The words I wrote down when reflecting on that question were:
- uplifting
- interesting
- challenging
We now have a week off for half term. I intend to revisit some of the earlier meditations and videos that Paul has shared with us in his weekly email. To make that easier for me I’ve listed them all below so I’ve got a jumping-off point.
Week 1 (which I missed)
- Pema Chödrön’s talk on ‘maitri’
- Kristin Neff’s TED talk
- ‘Mindful Self Compassion break’ meditations
Week 2
- ‘Affectionate breathing’ meditations
- Matt Killingsworth’s TED talk about staying in the moment
- Dan Harris talking about ‘default mode network’
- The Fly, about ‘what you resist, persists’
Week 3
- ‘loving kindness for a loved one’ meditations
- Chris Germer’s guided reflection on generating your own loving kindness phrases
- Showing how powerful, and difficult, it can be to be kind to ourselves
- Paul Johanson’s meditation for loving kindness allowing your own phrases to be used
Week 4
- The Fly again, - this time from the viewpoint of striving, disillusionment and true acceptance
- ‘loving kindness for ourselves’ meditations using your own phrases