By Christopher Germer and Kristin Neff
There are a wide variety of methods to reduce stress, get in touch with your emotions, and generally become more aware of you as a person. I went on a journey to learn how to meditate and stumbled into the world of Mindfulness Meditation. The Mindful Self-Compassion Program (MSCP) is an evolution of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction.
“The focus of Mindfulness Self-Compassion is on building the resources of mindfulness and compassion.” (Page 6)
In this book, Germer and Neff provide in-depth detail on how to teach MSCP. The first section offers insight on what is Mindful Self-Compassion, the science behind it, and how to teach self-compassion. The authors distinguish the difference between mindfulness and self-compassion:
Mindfulness is “…the awareness that emerges through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment.” This is the basic definition originally stated by Kabat-Zinn. Meanwhile, self-compassion is explains that “… embracing ourselves in the midst of our difficulties with care and concern can enrich our lives even more.” (page 3)
It is no surprise that Western society doesn’t wildly support the ideas of self-compassion. It’s when you step off the popular society pages that you find life-changing ideas like loving yourself. Until I started this journey, I didn’t realize how much I didn’t know how to be self-compassionate. For goodness sake, as a society, we have a hard time loving ourselves without feeling societal pressures to do more for others and think of ourselves very little.
“We don’t have to earn the right to compassion; it is our birthright.” (Page 16)
The authors go on to explain that “[Self-compassion] involves the clear seeing of our own suffering, a caring response to our suffering that includes the desire to help, and recognition that suffering is part of the shared human condition.” (Page 16)
In Part II, the authors provide detailed guidance on how to teach self-compassion. This is a double-edged sword, however. To teach it, you must first believe in it and do it – as the authors point out quite often. Mindful Self-Compassion is a practice-what-you’re-going-to-preach discipline. You’re not going to be alone in learning how to teach this seemingly simple concept. I liked the fact that the authors provide context, repetition, and structure on how to teach self-compassion. As the authors put it, you will be “teaching from within.”
I especially enjoyed the guidance they provided when it came to evoking responses from participants in a class. They also showed how easy it would be for the instructor to want to fix the distressing issue versus being with the person as they explain it: great insight and detailed instructions on how to guide participants and set them up for success.
In Part III, every session is outlined in exquisite detail. They provide a proven class structure and how and when to cover a variety of topics in a logical order allowing each session to build upon itself.
This book will continue to be a reference in helping me teach Mindfulness going forward. With such rich details about defining and recognizing self-compassion on how to teach this over eight sessions, I feel more empowered to begin my teaching journey.