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There are so many places within us that need to be comforted, soothed, and validated, even as we are activated by the times. Being able to sit with our feelings and our inner lives, and have a dialogue with the narrative of our personal and cultural lives is central to our journeys of identity, belonging, wellness, and meaning. This 3-hour Mindful Self Compassion workshop aims to connect and empower participants to create a greater sense of safety and connection within and between.

In this workshop, you will learn about the science of self-compassion, as well as debunk commonly held myths about self-compassion. You will learn and practice four core self-compassion skills. There will be ample time for questions and discussion.

This 3-hour introduction is particularly aimed at BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ community members and caregivers, and all those who have felt exhaustion, stress, or burnout during the times of COVID-19 and increased calls for racial justice, women’s rights, and human dignity.

The SF Love Dojo and Dr. Ravi Chandra believe in “These 5 Things”: Mindfulness, Compassion, Relatedness, Creativity, and Insight. We will bring all these to bear on the challenge of suffering and being in a world of suffering.

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Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) is an empirically-supported, 8-week, training program designed to cultivate the skill of self-compassion. This is a three-hour introduction.

Based on the groundbreaking research of Kristin Neff and the clinical expertise of Christopher Germer, MSC teaches core principles and practices that enable participants to respond to difficult moments in their lives with kindness, care and understanding. These practices are particularly helpful to those impacted by marginalization and abusive historical, personal, and cultural forces. Creating an “island of belonging” through this workshop has also been highly meaningful and transformative. Past workshops have been deeply connecting, and inflected with humor, fun and cultural insight.

The three key components of self-compassion are self-kindness, a sense of common humanity, and balanced, mindful awareness. Kindness opens our hearts to suffering, so we can give ourselves what we need. Common humanity opens us to our essential interrelatedness, so that we know we aren’t alone. Mindfulness opens us to the present moment, so we can accept our experience with greater ease. Together they comprise a state of warm-hearted, connected presence.

Self-compassion can be learned by anyone, even those who didn’t receive enough affection in childhood or who feel uncomfortable when they are good to themselves. It’s a courageous attitude that stands up to harm, including the harm that we unwittingly inflict on ourselves through self-criticism, self-isolation, or self-absorption. Self-compassion provides emotional strength and resilience, allowing us to admit our shortcomings, motivate ourselves with kindness, forgive ourselves when needed, relate wholeheartedly to others, and be more authentically ourselves.

Rapidly expanding research demonstrates that self-compassion is strongly associated with emotional wellbeing, less anxiety, depression and stress, building resilience, preventing burn-out, maintaining healthy habits such as diet and exercise, and cultivating satisfying personal relationships. And it’s easier than you think.