Our culture does not foster healthy belief in oneself very well. The MSC course guides and supports people to be able to live healthier lives, and healthier relationships with ourselves and with others.
No experience of mindfulness or meditation is necessary to partake.

Who’s it for?

This course is grounded in the cultivation and practice of self-compassion. Self compassion means we relate to ourselves and others from a place of self-encouragement and healthy boundaries/ limits rather than overwhelm, self-criticism and burnout.

It is relevant to all personal experiences of stress, including personal and work relationship challenges, perceived inadequacies, failures, and painful life situations more generally.

In essence, the MSC course supports people to cultivate a more reflective perspective,
a deeper awareness and a less harsh attitude to self.

The three key components of self-compassion are self-kindness, a sense of common humanity, and balanced mindful awareness. 

Background

The MSC course is based on the ground-breaking research of Kristin Neff PhD (Associate Professor Educational Psychology University of Texas & author) and the clinical expertise of Chris Germer PhD (Clinical Psychologist, Lecturer of Psychiatry Harvard Medical School & author). Together they developed MSC in 2010, and since then, it has been taught to over 150,000 people worldwide; in over 50 countries and 30 languages.

For more on the large evidence base, please visit:
https://self-compassion.org/the-research/

Format - What’s the course like?

8 weekly (2.75 hr) classes and a half day of practice. Although the curriculum is based on empirical theory, similar to MBSR MSC is an ‘experiential’ programme - meaning it’s mainly based in learning within one’s own experience and encourages contemplation & discussion rather than lecture/theory style learning. Each session outlines a little of the theory/research but the learning is mainly through reflective exercises, small group discussions and short meditation practices. Commitment to all sessions and daily practice is requested. No experience of mindfulness or meditation is necessary to partake.