Month Ten

MONTH TEN

An interview with Chris Germer

Mindfulness for deeper self compassion

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Welcome to MONTH TEN

Alongside building greater mindfulness, another key ingredient to our own wellbeing is the capacity we have for self compassion.

Research by Kristen Neff, one of Chris Germer’s colleagues has demonstrated that people who have greater self compassion experience less depression and anxiety and greater happiness and life satisfaction.

As you start to pay attention to your own inner dialogue it can be quite shocking to discover how self-critical many of us actually are. If you grew up with very critical parents you probably learned to talk to yourself that way, but it’s also a reflection of our own unique temperaments.

The optimistic thing to remember is that if you do notice you have a strong tendency towards self-criticism we can change our habits through repetition of new behaviours.

So this month pay particular attention to how you talk to yourself, particularly when things are difficult and see if you can be a little bit kinder.

You’ll learn some helpful practical tools in this month’s interview.

Use the Facebook group to share what you notice as you explore practising greater self compassion in your life and of course let the group know how your meditation practice is going.

You can also share mindful moments from your daily life to anchor you to more presence and gratitude.

In this video you’ll learn:

  • The relationship between self compassion and mindfulness
  • What we can actually do particularly during challenging times, to activate and generate more self-compassion
  • How self-compassion transformed a very difficult problem in Chris Germer’s life.
  • A powerful teaching on a key obstacle you will experience on the mindfulness journey and why it’s ultimately a good thing

About Christopher Germer

Christopher Germer, PhD is a clinical psychologist specialising in mindfulness and compassion-based psychotherapy. He is a founding member of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy, a clinical instructor in psychology at Harvard Medical School, author of The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion, and co-editor of Mindfulness and Psychotherapy and Wisdom and Compassion in Psychotherapy: Deepening Mindfulness in Clinical Practice. Dr. Germer lectures and conducts workshops internationally on the art and science of mindful self-compassion.

Dr. Elise Bialylew

Our upcoming LIVE CALL

Date: WEDNESDAY 15 February 2023
Time: 8:30pm AEDT

Join our live guided online meditation with Dr. Elise Bialylew, along with an interactive Q&A session.

Join the session on Zoom here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81381381693

JOIN HERE

BOOK OF THE MONTH

Brain, Mind and Body in the healing of Trauma.

This month, as part of the Mind Life Project book club you’re invited to read Intraconnected, by Daniel Siegel.

Both a personal and general meditation on identity and belonging, Daniel J. Siegel’s book combines personal reflections with scientific discussions of how the mind, brain, and our relationships shape who we are. Weaving the internal and external, the subjective and objective, IntraConnected reveals how our culture may give us a message of separation as a solo, isolated self, but a wider perspective unveils that who we are may be something more—broader than the brain, bigger even than the body—and fundamental to social systems and the natural world.

Our body-based self—the origin of a Me—is not only connected to others but connected within our relational worlds themselves—a WE—forming the essence of how we belong and our identity. If the pandemic has taught us nothing else, it has taught us that we are all connected. IntraConnected discusses that bond, as well as other realities of our intraconnected lives.

Download the bookclub reflection guide here where you can record your biggest takeaways.

As you take notes do share them in the Facebook group as a way of integrating your learning and having discussions with others in the group. Remember to use the hashtag #bookclub #mindfulpathselfcompassion or just #mindfulcompassionbook (for ease!)

PURCHASE THE
BOOK
Download the bookclub
reflection guide here

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