Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC), an experiential 8-week training program based on the groundbreaking research of Kristin Neff and the clinical expertise of Christopher Germer, will be held at Antioch University New England. The program meets on Wednesday evenings beginning on July 8, 2015 through August 26, 2015, from 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm; and on Saturday, August 8, 2015 from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm.
MSC supports the development of courageous attitudes enabling individuals to stand up to harm, even unintentional self-inflicted harm such as self-criticism, self-isolation or self-absorption. MSC training teaches core skills that empower participants to respond to life’s difficult moments with kindness, care, and understanding. It enhances abilities to:
- Practice Self-Compassion in your daily life
- Motivate yourself with kindness rather than criticism
- Handle difficult emotions with greater ease
- Transform challenging relationships, old and new
- Manage caregiver fatigue
- Practice the art of savoring and self-appreciation
- Understand the empirically –supported benefits of self-compassion
Eminent neuroscientists such as Dr. Richard Davidson and neuropsychologists such as Dr. Rick Hanson have discovered that while mindfulness training enhances our abilities to stay with our present moment experience, it is, by itself, not enough.
“[B]eing with your mind is not enough,” says Hanson, in his book Hardwiring Happiness. He goes on to say that research on positive emotions like compassion shows they can reduce reactivity and stress while they “improve resilience, well-being, and life satisfaction.” Therefore he recommends building inner strengths from positive mental states such as compassion and gratitude into our mindfulness training. Experiential training in developing these positive mental states enables each one of us to meet three of our essential needs: for safety, satisfaction, and connection.
Dr. Claire Stanley will facilitate this course. She completed her MSC teacher training through University of California San Diego with Dr. Kristen Neff and Dr. Christopher Germer. She has been teaching mindfulness, compassion, and meditation nationwide since 1998 and is the Guiding Teacher at Vermont Insight Meditation Center in Brattleboro, Vermont.
Visit here for more information or to register for this course.
