Our Mission / Purpose

Happy New Year! Connecting from the Portland, Oregon area. I know self-compassion is exactly what I need, and, therefore, is what I’m quite afraid of. Not rational, I know. It is by comparison ridiculously easy for me to be compassionate with virtually EVERYone else. But for myself, my “shoulds” get in the way. I get stuck on the idea that I shouldn’t need to learn it, to practice it, that it should be natural for me. But it isn’t, so here I am. Glad to have some fellow travelers to practice with and learn from.
Be well!

Hello, I’m Clinton, and live just north of Atlanta, GA. My therapist recommended this site to me, and I finally decided to join. My inner critic is very active. I’ve been coming to grips with my fractured self, and I am doing Internal Family Systems work with a psychologist to uncover the deeper roots that hold me back in life. My life goal is to be a mentor and coach, and I believe there are skills such as compassion that I will need to learn for myself before I can successfully start my journey as a life coach.

Hello everyone, I am Oliver and here to learn better Self Compassion after almost four years of medical trauma. I (eventually) got diagnosed with Moyamoya, a super-rare brain disease and had brain surgery a week later at Stanford. While the procedure was a success, I have been left in cronic pain, upto 10/10. Now on a cocktail of drugs, including Morphine. The pain has been so bad, including waking up during surgery, that I have dissasociated my mind and body. I have lost the ability to feel emotions. I have lost 95% of memories, have little idea of what happened yesterday or what tomorrow might hold. I am hoping this group might be able to help rebuild a better me!

Hey everyone, my name is Shipra and I live in India. Practising Self Compassion has really changed my view on myself and it’s a magical tool for healing from trauma symptoms. I remember I used to practice guided self Compassion meditations at my parents place and I used to take my hand to the heart to generate feelings of self Compassion and loving kindness towards self.
My father who is not much aware about the topic of mental health would often encourage me to do the heart meditation whenever I was feeling low and struggling with myself. He calls it the heart meditation and I see the smile he gets on his face everytime he sees me practicing. Meditation has been game changer in my life and that’s why I offer my insights and journey with others by offering a safe space to be in touch with their emotions and stories.

I am so happy to be here to share my story and challenges with practicing self Compassion!

Namaste

Hey guy! Stephanie from Alabama here. I am somewhat new to learning about self-compassion and so far, it had been very helpful. Looking forward to keeping bettering myself and helping other people along the way!

Eins-zwei-drei-vier – a proud, strong German here!
Dad taught me to discern;
Differentiate, discipline – I love to learn!
Mensa has no ‘one up’ on me
Daily I exercise my curiosity
I am learner
 
Swedish, too, is that my gypsy? Whoosh! 
Like the wind, I’m off to another place.
Peering around another corner, into a new culture’s face.
I am explorer
 
Divorced family, first gen, lower class
Obstacles? Ha! I can overpass. 
Quiet, introverted, guarded – there were some traces
Of fear and pain; now faraway places.
I am survivor
 
When Martin Luther pounded his theses on the church door, I held the nail.
When troubled students came to me; I helped them prevail.
Strongly intuitive, I understand the whale.
Welcome to my consciousness – as you explore, feel free to go off the trail.
I do.
I am relator

Hello. I joined this SC Community a few days ago because my partner and best friend of many years had a stroke and then, apparently, covid deepened an underlying condition making him seriously physically disabled. The past 2+ years have been up and down but he is becoming increasingly impaired and we both are struggling with fear of the unknown future. I find myself a much-needed caregiver, with increasing responsibility and a sense of dread and grief.

I’m a retired psychologist with a daily meditation practice and I’ve always been attracted to evidence-based Buddhist-inspired teachers, books, etc. I have a strong faith community (Unitarian Universalist) and supportive friends, but need a practice of self-compassion and self-care to get me thru this.

I think this community is for me.

Hi there, I’m new here. Learning how to access self compassion has been such a core part of my process of healing through complex trauma. Ive listened to Dr. Neff’s meditations 4 or 5 times a day at times to help build a bridge back to self connection and compassion. The recent election results have triggered my nervous system back into a state of fear and shutdown lately and I’m trying to learn how to reach for life while my nervous system is convinced it’s facing death. Despite my distress, I feel such a strong desire to connect and find community. I want to feel safe with other people and create safe spaces for other people. Joining this community is a step towards life and connection for me, and I’m so grateful for each of us that are here.

Hello, everyone! I am so excited to belong to this community. I have been on a very difficult road since last October, when I was involved in an accident and sustained a severe TBI/PTSD. Everything I thought I had really processed, but had only really coped with, came back into my present experience. I have had to dig deep and have engaged in many and varied forms of therapies. I am working through the mindful self compassion workbook and reading 3 self-compassion books after taking an 8 week MBSR program. I’m looking forward to learning more and practicing here.

Hi there, my name is Kathy and I’m happy to be here. I’m in recovery from substance abuse disorder and am currently working through the MSC workbook with a group of other sober women The results from this practice have been life-changing so I gifted myself with a membership here to enrich my practice.

Hi everyone. My name’s Peter. I am a former Family Physician, now doing GP psychotherapy and beginning a (hopefully long and fruitful) career in promoting self compassion to the wider world. I strongly believe in the possibility of a better and more peaceful world, where we treat ourselves and those around us with the respect and care that we so richly deserve as card carrying members of the human race. I have struggled with social anxiety for a very long time, have been involved with MSC and CDP since the beginning of COVID, and have benefitted enormously, often in unforeseen ways. I’m really indebted to this community and am looking forward to the vulnerable magic of sharing with with all of you in this space.

Enjoying all the great new meditations from Kristin – so helpful to be able to utilise specific meditations depending on my mind state

Hello Everyone, my name’s Brigitta. I’m a mum, wife, mental health advocate and student of mindfulness. I have over for decades of lived experience of anxiety disorders. My most recent mental health crisis started a little over a year ago when my OCD reached a new traumatic level of intensity. The last year has been really tough for me and it’s only now that I’m starting to feel like I’m getting lasting relief from the grip of intrusive thoughts.
I’m passionate about promoting mindfulness as it’s been transforming my life in a way no other modality has done before.
I’m the admin of a Facebook group “From Mind-Full to Mindful” where I share simple but powerful mindfulness techniques with others living with anxiety.
I can’t wait to start my journey towards self-compassion as I have an extremely negative self-critic that’s holding me back from being my full authentic self.

I’m excited to be part of this community, to connect with others and to grow in self-compassion together.

Much love to All.

Hello everyone,
I am Sonja, 49, living in Germany. I work as a psychotherapist, which is interesting but draining as well. In addition, my mother has been diagnosed with dementia a few months ago and needs progressively more care from me.
I have practiced mindfulness and self compassion for many years now, but in this challenging times I would like to increase my focus on self compassion for care givers again. Looking forward to talking to you all.

My name is Martine. I am grateful for this website. I just finished the Self-compassion book. I am trying everyday to actively show myself self-compassion. Practice, practice, practice…. It is helping when I’m in a emotionally distressful place with my feelings to give myself compassion instead of beating myself up, resisting, or criticizing myself. I will keep practicing and listening to the lessons offered on here

Hi! I am Cathleen. I live in South Florida. I have lived in several states across the US after growing up in the mid-west. My career is nursing, recently achieving NP licensure, advanced practice holistic nurse, and psychiatric rehabilitation certification. Despite achievements I fall into unkindness to myself. Participating in the group has helped. I am at a time in my life when nostalgia and ambiguous loss can pull at my energy. I hope to gain greater self-acceptance and appreciation for my many gifts.

Hello everyone, my name is Helene and I live in Ireland. I am a teacher and a mum. I have adopted some very helpful self-care practices over the last six years, yoga and meditation being two of them.
Despite this, I could see that I was still making poor choices for myself, so often putting myself last and experiencing near-burnouts. I had seen some of Kristin’s videos and was very interested. I am delighted to be joining this community. I am currently going through The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook and it is like some pieces of a jigsaw starting to fall into place.

Hi, Glad to have found this group. I’m looking for ways to continue to care for myself in a demanding time of my life. After living overseas for a long time and now back in the states a few years, I’m navigating a lot of different things like general life transition things plus grief and loss and also stuff related to changing culture and language context as well as major shift in worldview, career possibilities, neglected aspects of my life like areas of artistic expression etc. I’m looking forward to taking part in the different community offerings.

Hi, I am so grateful to have stumbled on to this group. My name is Kimberly. I come from a small town in the US and I am now living outside of Oslo Norway. I am a wife (38 years), mother (3 children), grandmother (3 grand babies and one more due soon) and a licensed Vernepleier (Norwegian healthcare personnel that has a foundation from psychology, learning theory, rehab and medicine). I work at an activity center for aging adults with pre-geriatic and early stages of dementia that have needs for psychological and social support. I took this education later in life and I have never regretting doing so! I love it. I am trying to soften my own thoughts and fears of agism. For the last 15 years I have been working through my own past and trying to forge a new path in my own challenges with losses and the grief that I have experienced throughout life. Meeting and accepting my own physical and psychological challenges and learning how to navigate through physical pain is my most recent challenge. I have found that learning more about self compassion hopefully will help me become more flexible along the way. And I realise that I cannot and prefer not to do this all by myself.

Hi, I’m Julia. I’ve been meditating for 10 years in many different environments with various teachers and guides. Dr Neff’s online course with Chris Gerber, The Power of Self-Compassion, really opened my heart in ways that were unfamiliar to me. I felt the need for more practice, study, and opportunities to learn/experience self-compassion. So here I am in this community. Thank you for the support of this group. I’m looking for opportunities to share and be of service in whatever way may be possible.

Hi I am Bertha. I am a senior ,loving this time to “go deeper ” into loving myself. For me Dr.Neff’s work on self compassion is an Important key to inner peace and joy .it is never too late to learn and grow.

Hi. I’m Staci. I’m a brand new member and although I’ve been aware of Mindful Self-Compassion for many years, I’ve just started on my own personal practice. I’m a social worker (macro work, no longer doing direct client practice) and learned about Dr. Neff’s work early in my career but never had time or money to do any in-depth learning. I have struggled with perfectionism my whole life along with deep self-loathing. The latter, unfortunately, led me to make some incredibly bad choices that almost destroyed my marriage. I decided that I finally needed to do something to address it, for myself and for my partner. I just started the workbook this week and the description of the difference between self-esteem and self-compassion really resonated with me. I’m glad to have found a community to support me in this journey.

Hi. My name is Bill. I’m a sobriety coach. I first read Self-Compassion back in 2020, which changed how I talked to myself. Self-Compassion lead me to the MBSR which then lead me to Sobriety through This Naked Mind. I use Self-Compassion in my coaching practice because it makes a world of difference. Glad to be here to go deeper into my own practice to feel even better about my experiences.

I am a new member, so excited and willing to learn how to be self compassionate and compassionate to my Amazing wife.

Hello, my name is Dan. From Ohio. Married with two kids, a son (13) and a daughter (11). My wife and I both work in the public service arena. Anxiety has always been a life long companion of mine, so when my son was born I began looking into meditation and have been going down that path ever since. It has been a very positive experience. Recently however, I suffered some trauma. Though the cause was no fault of my own, I’ve feel great shame from not being able to deal with it on my own. Plus, I get hung up on the thought of “how can I help others if I can’t even help myself.” I don’t know why I expect myself to any different from anyone else, lol, but that thought is there none the less. I’m currently taking a course with Sharon Salzberg and she suggested I come here. I am looking forward to being part of a community understands and I can be open with.
Thank you all for being here.
Dan

After reading through some of the postings, I would also like to mention that, as so many of us here, I meditate every day. I have actually meditated for over 30 years but only recently found a “mindfulness” meditation practice that I can tangibly feel the benefits from. I also love doing yoga.

Hi everyone- I finally figured out how to post something here. (I was probably having issues because I was trying to post from my iPhone). I attended one mentor session with (the other) Amy and met Julian and June who both seemed really nice. I hope to make some friends here. I live in the US – east coast and work full time so it can be challenging to do the sessions and find time to participate. I look forward to doing what I can and learning more about how I can become a compassionate advocate for myself.

Bonjour à tous!

I am Nathalie, I’m french and born in Italy, so, hello from Europe!

I am proud and moved to be part of this Self-Compassion community from the early days.

I’ve been through the losses of loved ones during my life (orphan at 21, widow at 33, now I’m 54) and felt damned, isolated and inadequate most of the time, as I experienced lots of emotional turmoil and hasrch self criticism.

I discovered Kristin’s books almost ten years ago and, guess what, I have been struggling a lot whith this idea at first 😉
And I gave it a try, and a bit later I forgot about it, then came back to it and so on.
As I’m a normal human, sometimes it’s easy, sometimes it’s not.

Thanks to Kristin N’s and Chris G’s work, I now remember I’m not alone in this: we all experience grief in our lives. Harsh judgement makes it only more painful.

Now I’m convinced: dropping the struggle angainst reality and myself is the best advice I’ve ever heard, and opening up to all this with kindness is my lifetime journey.

My kids are now 2 beautiful men, and while grieving my “full time mother role” I’m getting to know parts inside me desperately waiting for my attention, kindness and support.
Loving and supporting myself as much as I’ve always loved and supported others is making my life worth living by itself…

I feel so much gratitude for writing here and reading your posts and practicing with all the material you publish on the community!!

1000 mercis !
Bonne journée à tous
<3

Hi I am Betsy. I am 59 years old and have been struggling with myself the last several years. I want to learn how to love myself so I can then be a better mom, coworker and caring person overall.

Hello, everyone, I am Michelle. I have always had anxiety and depression along for the ride, but have recently discovered (at age 58) that I am autistic. It explains many difficulties I have experienced, especially social anxiety and how I internalize my experiences and criticize myself. I have become well-acquainted with mindfulness meditation, and now I want to walk the path of radical acceptance and fierce self-compassion. I’m experiencing resistance, so I hope this intro will provide the spark I need.

Hello beautiful humans.

My name is Ian, 40 years old.
I live in Perth, Australia.
Former chef/restaurant owner.
Transitioning into the mental health industry.
I’ll be studying social work/Psychology.
I have my own mental health struggles, suffer from social anxiety/panic, I have some maladaptive schemas I’m currently working on with my therapist. I’m so intrigued about the human condition. I’m an INFJ personality.
I love meditation and I just recently found more about self compassion and MSC.
You are all such an inspiration and I’m so grateful I will be able to learn from you all.

❤️

Hi all, I am Jennifer. I am so glad to run into this website as I was exploring resources with the challenges I am dealing with. The Self Compassion website came up and this is what I need to work on being kind to myself. I have been self-sabotaging after being denied job opportunities as I was laid off 15 months ago. I look forward to learning more with the tools regaining my confidence believing in myself again.

Hi I am Nicole. I am a counselor and I have always struggled with self compassion. I came across this website from a colleague and thought what a great idea. I turn 35 this year so I need to work on loving myself

Hello all, I am Urvish. I am based out of the SF Bay Area and I work in tech (surprise, surprise!). Looking forward to being a part of this community.

I have been going through some personal challenges in my dating life and with my relationships leading to a feeling of alone-ness and not-enough-ness. Hoping to find some solace in knowing I am not alone and that I am supported, and also gain some helpful insights to be more compassionate and at peace with my journey.

Hi everyone,
I am Jessica, I turned 38 yesterday. I have a long list of physical and mental health challenges. After reading one of Dr. Neff’s book’s I took part in Mindfulness Self-Compassion. I need more self-compassion in my life and decided this would be a wonderful way of doing just that.
Thank you.

Hi! I’m Jen and have joined this community as a gift to myself to continue cultivating self-compassion. I learned a life changing lesson when I did the “write a letter to a friend…then write a letter to yourself” exercise by Dr Kristin Neff. Wow. It allowed me to see the first glimpse at the magnitude of negative self-talk. After several years of practice, I can now catch myself when the negative self-talk shows itself.
Connecting in community is so healthy for me… so here I am. 🙂
May peace and calm come easily to you all.
Jen

My name is Regan (Ray-gun). I am a queer (she/her)white married interfaith chaplain and pursuing a Doctorate in Intereligious Chaplaincy. My dissertation will be on supporting LGBTQ persons who have experienced Spirirual Abuse. Having been raised in a harmfully misogynistic (and I’m sure racist) fundamentalist church, I spent about the first 3 decades learning and healing, though that never stops does it? Now at 46, I’ve spent 17 years as a chaplain in hospice and hospitals and find myself in a precarious place.

My body and I struggle with each other and it shows as chronic illnesses and now facing a surgery that may permanently change my abilities and perhaps my career.

Being in a place of unknown future is not new to me. I use self-compassion daily as I also practice mindfulness of one religion and reflective study and theology of another tradition. Still, the insecurity and uneasiness grips me sometimes. I look forward to being a part of this community and learning more about myself and others as well as more about Compassion.

Hello Everyone,

I am Suchira, I am a registered Social Worker living in Toronto Canada. I identify as a person of colour and most of my career I have worked with survivors of domestic violence. I am a single mom to a busy 9 year old daughter and self compassion practice has been a life long learning for me. I am really happy to be a part of this community and glad that a community like this exists especially in today’s time, where there is increased distress and disconnection with self and others. Self compassion does not come naturally to me due to my own socialization and life experiences, but as I progress slowly but steadily on my own healing journey and as I work with my clients who often also cant relate to the concept of self compassion, being a part of this community is a well timed opportunity for me and I look forward to this journey!

My name is Katie and I live about 13 miles due west of the City of Chicago. I am going through a period of intense transition right now, and self compassion is NOT something I have ever felt or given myself. I believe it will be integral for me to FINALLY learn that I am worth my own efforts. I am more than my job, my body, my accomplishments, my titles….. I am enough because I am. I am working to live that as truth. I

I am nearly 53 years old, married to my husband for 24 years and we have a menagerie of pets and three children 21, 19, and 16. I am so grateful to be here.

Hello! I’m Monica. I am very new. I have come to this group because my excellent therapist highly recommended it. I am bicultural and bilingual. I deeply love this country because my greatest blessings have happened here. I am hesitant to share anything more personal. But I look forward to becoming an active member of this community and being able to contribute positively

Hello, community

I’m Lexi and today I celebrate that I joined you. A friendly doctor once described me as taking every detour there is in approaching my (mental) health … And he showed me how this is a strength because it is MY approach and any detour increases familiarity with the terrain (my Self and my parts, as I put it these days, that is). So I naturally circled around the self compassion work for a few years until just one too many pointers meant that “this is the right time and the right place”.

I am as new to this work as the sweet little seedlings in my living room that just poked their first green leaves out of the soil and that later in the year will, hopefully, feed us.

In fact, at first I tried to avoid self compassion work.It seemed… scary. So thank you, Kristin (and many other amazing people), for the consequent emails, events and publications that lead me here.

About what matters to me? My kids, my hubby, growing healthy food, being the steward of our little plot and the wildlife on it, foraging with friends, volunteering in the local community center, singing, hiking, yoga, ifs,
I am looking forward to our journey in this community

Hello, everyone! My name is Kimberly. I have a Bachelor’s degree in psychology with my Master’s of Social Work degree in progress. I attend USC where I am on the Clinical Social Work Caucus Executive Board as the VAC representative. I am also a volunteer for NAMI (National Alliance of Mental Illness), where I am a certified HelpLine Specialist. I joined this community to help myself learn to have more self compassion and to be able to apply what I learn to my positions with USC, NAMI, with my future clients, and with my 12-year-old daughter. Looking forward to learning and connecting with others here.

Hi! I’m excited to be here. I’ve enjoyed learning about Kristin’s work over the last few years and knew that self-compassion was missing for me. I work to incorporate it daily into my life.

I am excited to bring what I’m learning into my coaching practice where I help women in midlife navigate menopausal symptoms who may also have food issues to work through. I worked as a nurse for 24 years and was completely burnt out! At the age of 57, I stepped away from my FT career in June of 2023 as I developed more self-compassion and understanding of my true passion.

I realized I could help other women do better than I did in midlife as I guided them to manage menopausal symptoms and overcome food restrictions using self-compassion as the gateway. I’m excited to get to know this community and help in any way I can.

Hi everyone!
I am Erika. I love to learn, enjoy doing outdoor actitives and taking fitness classes. I love being out in nature; I try to go at least twice a week to the park and plant my feet on the ground. I decided to join this community because I feel it would be beneficial for me. I am my harshest critic and am feeling lonely. I am looking forward to meeting people on this platform and learn to not be so hard on myself and enjoy life more.

My name is Eva Fisher, PhD, and I am currently starting a mental health coaching practice for people with body dysmorphia and BDD. I recovered from BDD more than 20 years ago and facilitate support groups for people with BDD, therapists, and caregivers of people with body dysmorphic disorder. I am here to learn more about self-compassion practices for myself and my clients. I want to use self-compassion as one of the methods to help people cope with symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder. I have written a book based on my dissertation titled The BDD Family: Coping with Body Dysmorphic Disorder in a Peer Support Group. The book provides insights into BDD symptoms and why peer support and a supportive online community can make a difference in people’s lives.

Hello, my name is Curry. I am excited to be here and learn about self compassion techniques and practices. I have two children in their 20’s. I am recovering from ankle surgery. I work full time, love to travel and look forward to regaining my mobility.

Hi, my name is Hope and I look forward to connecting with others in this supportive community! I struggle emotionally and have been told throughout my life that I am “hard” on myself. I was introduced to the term self compassion a number of years ago. I’m so glad I am finally looking into this now. I am a lifelong learner and I enjoy writing, reading and spending time with my rescue cat, Snow White.

Happy to be here. Self-compassion and loving-kindness have completely transformed my life. I have been able to be kind and forgive myself. This has enabled me to gently guide myself to greater happiness, presence, and well-being. I am so grateful!

Hi everyone: I’m Carolyn and I am excited to be part of this community. I’ve been a member for a few weeks but have been nervous about offering this introduction! I am in my mid-60s and have been practicing mindfulness meditation since 1994, mostly in the Buddhist insight tradition. After embracing meditation whole-heartedly for many years, in the past few years my practice has turned into another way to find myself lacking. 🙂 Self-compassion feels very much like a missing piece for me and when I remember to practice I find it brings my anxious and busy mind some much-needed peace. I am an editor and writer, gardener and herbalist, and avid practitioner of qigong. I live with my partner in a small but growing community on Vancouver Island, Canada. Thank you to everyone for creating and supporting this community.

Good afternoon! My name is Annie and I’m so excited to join the Self Compassion Community! I’m a single cat mom in my mud-40s living in Nashville, TN, USA and have been interested in Self Compassion practice since I read Chris Germer’s Mindful Self Compassion back in 2013. I took my first official course on self compassion this January.

I’m a recovering perfectionist and trauma trained social worker. I am currently looking to reenter the workforce after taking the last year off due to burnout, secondary trauma and grieving the death of my father. Self Compassion helped save me through this time and I can’t wait to grow my practice and learn to share it with others.

I am grateful for the existence of this community!

Hi all, I’m Jackson
I suffer from anxiety and depression. I really struggle with self compassion and am excited to take this journey to better myself.
I was sent here by my therapist who is outstanding
Hoping to also connect with people and share support and tips
Thanks for reading

Hi Everyone- I teach MSC in San Diego, CA. I have been on an adventure to try and practice self -compassion in daily life. Lately, I have been feeling a lot of difficult emotions. I love the idea of learning with community.

My husband & I live in sunny San Diego, CA. We have 2 wonderful adult daughters. I enjoy playing tennis, reading, hiking & spending time with friends & family. I’m excited to get to know more of this community.

Hello everyone,

I am Mihaela Campion, the founder of Psychotherapy and Transformational Movement, a solo owned private practice in Chicago, IL. I have 25 years of experience working with adults as individuals and couples, I find using self-compassion tools very useful. I read Kristin Neff’s books and participated in some workshops with her. Also, studied self-compassion as part of Daring Way certified facilitator training with Brene Brown. Self-compassion change my own way of giving myself support when needed. I use the tools and recommend the practice to almost all my clients. I am excited to be part of this group and learn more about self-compassion.

Hello everyone! I’m Kate, from the outskirts of Toronto, Canada. Due to chronic illness I am not working at the moment. Mindful Self-Compassion has become such an important part of my life as I deal with this (still fairly new) reality. I’ve recently changed most of my avatars to the picture I’m using here. It was taken in 2019 when I was on the ocean. The wind was whipping my hair around and some people were giggling with (at?) me about it. I felt so alive and so happy in that moment of surrender to the wind. I’m grateful for the photographic reminder of it 🙂

Hello MSC Fellow Travelers. I joined this community to stay connected with people who realize the importance of Mindful Self Compassion. I was first introduced to MSC at a meditation group that I still practice with In Berkeley, CA. I am lucky because I got to participate in workshops with Kristen Neff sponsored by the Greater Good Science Center. During the Pandemic I decided to do a deep dive into MSC. I signed up for every workshop that The Center of Mindful Self Compassion offered. Many mornings you will find me meditating at the daily Circle of Practice. I have also been an active member of many online offerings offered by the KindMind Academy. I worked for many years as a nurse. Now I spend my time dancing, hiking, and have travel adventures near and far.

Hi Everyone
My name is Liddie. I was introduced to MSC by my therapist. I am learning how past traumas have impacted me and learning that I matter and that it is I who needs to take care of me, not others. Actually I feel like I have been taking care of me since early childhood, now I am learning to take care of myself in more compassionate ways. It is not easy to retrain myself and sometimes it is lonely as I am learning to set boundaries and that is not always well received by others who have not seen this side of me. Learning I matter. Excited to continue on the MSC journey which will improve my life and also allow me to continue helping others without sacrificing myself.
Let’s Do This!!

Hi Everyone,

I’m Shubhanshi from India. I’m a freelance writer and a STEM tutor. I attended the inauguration meeting this morning and I’m totally thrilled to begin this self-compassion journey together with Dr. Neff and everyone in this amazing community.

How I see it, I’m glad to be a part of this group here because
a) now I don’t have to practice alone anymore
b) I am in company of real genuine people who believe in the same values and connect with me on real level, share reality with all its ups and downs.

It’s just so much better to feel real, seen, and heard with real people, and not listening to just a recording on the screen.

My name is Jerry, I am 76, recently retired as a mental health counselor. I am going through major changes right now related to my marriage and living situation. I am very involved and active in my faith community and keep connected with friends and family and am committed to doing the best I can everyday to keep moving towards my new life, even though my future path is not real clear. I remind regularly to have compassion for myself and others and that Love can overcome fear. Blessings to all.

Hi! I am glad to be here in community. I took the Mindful Self-Compassion 8 week class in February 2021. I participate in the CMSC Circles of Practice often. I took the Self-Compassion for Caregivers class as well which helped me be so much more present with myself and my mom in the last few years. I am looking for more community as I am reconnecting to myself and the world since I have worked mostly remotely since 2020 and am sadly just wrapping up years of parental caregiving. It is so amazing to be reinhabiting my body and mind and life and the MSC practice is again supporting me during this phase of my life. I has so much to learn. I like practicing MSC lying on the floor or sitting outside along the Oakland Estuary. I’m looking forward to connecting within this new community.

Hi everyone I am Dr. Lakisha Covert, CPC. I am from Waldorf, MD and I am a certified professional life coach. I would with individuals and organizations to help with leadership and the 12 areas of life. It is my passion. I am married and have 4 children. I am an educator who has been in education for over 20 years. I just discovered self compassion and immediately it resonated with me. It is what I need as a Black women in America and I am excited to learn more. I am also excited to learn about you, my community members and to learn from you.

Joined this community to be more motivated to practice self compassion and learn new things. I am completing the MMTCP course and hope to bring this practice to others.

Thank you for this community. I am a mother of two grown sons and a grandmother of a brand new granddaughter. Though I am a regular meditator, I struggle with negative thoughts about myself and want to strengthen self-compassion in my daily practice … whether in meditation or in other ways.
With gratitude –
June

Hi! My name is Eric, and I am from Wisconsin. Wow! I’ve read a lot of introductions here and it’s amazing that there are licensed professionals and healers here. I’m none of those. I work in supply chain in mundane administrative tasks. I suppose, if I were younger and chose to do it al over again, I would have loved to become a therapist and look forward to healing people every day. Though, I have my own healing work I do. I love to pass out compliment/inspiration/affirmation cards at work, participate in company recognition programs, and smile as often as I can to people. Self-compassion is difficult as it is so easy to show this to others – even complete strangers! Thanks everyone for being here.

Hi, I’m Joan. I am excited about joining this MSC community. I live in Massachusetts with my husband and service dog, Schubert. I have been following Kristen since she wrote her first book. Self-compassion is an ongoing journey for me. I am so grateful to the MSC circles of practice and the many MSC programs that have been offered to Me. My participation in these programs has helped me to change my life. May you be filled with loving kindness towards yourself and others❣️

Hi everyone,

So excited to be a founding member of this community! I first heard about self-compassion when I was really struggling with mental health and substance use. My friend suggested that I do an online course on ‘a life of happiness and fulfilment’. During this course I heard about Dr.Neff’s work on self-compassion and the concept immediately spoke to me.
Fast forward a few years and I now relate to myself in a totally different way thanks to self-compassion (amongst other things). Engaging in self-compassion lead to a chain reaction of a whole lot of other things. For example, I now meditate everyday (Neff’s SC meditation got me into it) and attend the local buddhist centre twice a month, I also work on a crisis line and regularly signpost Neff’s resources. I am currently running an experiment for my masters thesis about self-compassion and how it interacts with internal and external sources of suffering. Doing this masters thesis has been a handy excuse to immerse myself in the research about SC, it has been so fascinating!
Looking forward to exploring the website, I have already looked at a bunch of stuff in the learning corner which sounds really interesting.

Sending positive vibes to everyone in the SC community 🙂

All the best,

Cameron

Hello, my fellow humans,

I’m Sammy. I’ve engaged myself with self-compassion to focus on valuing myself as much as I value others. I am working hard to soften the inner critic and listen to myself. I’m a Superman fan, board & video gamer, kayaker, and connoisseur of poutine and cheesecake.
I look forward to participating in discussions and learning from you all.

Sammy

Hi everyone!

I am Juna (pronounced Yu-nah). I am a Ph.D. candidate at Oakland University in Michigan. My research bridges post-traumatic growth, positive self-leadership, affective neuroscience, and positive emotions. I am currently studying how positive emotions and cognitions influence the process of growth following trauma and developing a theory to describe and explain this process.

I came across Dr. Neff’s work in 2016, and since then I have read most of her work. I find the concept of self-conception fascinating! Also, given my academic interests in positive emotions and affective neuroscience, learning about self-compassion became vital.

I joined this community as I am interested in learning more about self-compassion from Dr. Neff, as well as other individuals who practice self-compassion in their professional and personal lives.

I look forward to an enriching learning experience!

With kindness and gratitude,
Juna

Hello All,

I am Tiina. I am married with two teens (my son is in college, and my daughter is a junior in high school). I am a licensed clinical social worker and provide therapy privately and at a nonprofit crisis center. I love learning and growing personally. I also love reading, mountain biking, hiking, surfing, and connecting with others, even though I often feel shy.

Mindful Self-Compassion practices have become the foundation for my well-being and connection with my spouse, children, friends, colleagues, and everyone else I meet along the journey! I feel lucky to have participated in MSC courses online, and recently I was able to attend a 5-day MSC intensive. What a gift!

I appreciate the opportunity to participate in this community and keep practicing self-compassion.

Tiina

Hi, I am Cathleen.
Seeking support for expanded self compassion, I am a nurse, working within mental health for 30 years, recently matriculated to APRN, PMHNP & APHN
Mother of 2 adults and wife of 40 years. Looking forward to learning and living more compassionately toward myself and others.

Hi everyone,
I am new to the self-compassion model although it has familiar principles, and I have studied mindfulness meditation. I know how important consistent self inventory and self acceptance is, and I am looking forward to delving deeper in this community. I can be fairly driven in my career and life generally and believe I will benefit from this balancing approach to keep the joy.

Hi All,
It’s really exciting to see the members introducing themselves and seeing this community come to life! My name is Kaitlin, I am a certified life coach with an approach of creating a safe space for incremental and sustainable progress. I also need that space for myself so I’m excited to be here!

I was introduced to Kristin Neff’s Self Compassion work in 2021. I made self-compassion my word for the year in 2022 and it really helped guide me into integrating self compassion awareness and practice into my daily life. I notice that I am a much kinder and less judgemental person both to myself and others. I love the openness and acceptance that can be found in practicing self compassion. I am also able to think more clearly and problem solve because I use self compassion.
I’m looking forward to growing in this group! Best to all!

I’ve enjoyed seeing many of your introductions. I’ve been a follower of Dr. Neff’s work for a long time and used it exclusively and specifically her first book to fall asleep, every single night for probably at least 3 months, after an incredibly challenging thing to live through.
I was already doing lovingkindness work from meditation retreats and workshops since 2005. I mention the year more for me to realize how long it has been because I keep acting like a beginner and I’m not, even though we all are in each moment 😉 . This has been a life saver for me, as many of you, therefore my commitment and interest are very strong. I have some mental health issues that I’ve not been able to find a right fit in therapy so being able to take care of myself in those moments when I have no one to talk to and have to strengthen my muscles to carry a heavy load has been helpful.

Hello!
I have been studying self-compassion for years. I am a therapist and strongly believe that self-compassion is the alchemy that is necessary for healing. Just recently I have started to practice self-compassion in my personal life. Feeling so much gratitude. Love & light.

Hello everyone! So happy to be here–I live in the United States (California). am currently a Clinical Manager at Two Chairs where I provide therapeutic services to adults virtually, as well as clinical support to practicing therapists; I practice using a trauma-informed, person-centered, and integrative approach. Furthermore, I serve as an Adjunct Professor of Psychology for undergraduate and graduate students at California Baptist University (online), along with California State University, San Bernardino. My teaching/supervision style is supportive, empathic, and person-centered. Looking forward to learning with you all!

Hi I’m Karen, I’m glad to be part of this group as I’ve been struggling with negative thoughts. I’m really good at giving compassion to others, but am terrible at giving myself the same grace when struggling. I’m hoping this program will help with that.

Hello everyone, I’m so happy to find this resource. I had the privilege of taking an on line Self Compassion class last year. I loved it and connecting with others and listening so helped my awareness and learning. I’m 79 years old and love to learn….self compassion has supported me through many life changes and physical challenges over the last 6 months. I look forward to this helping me keep my practice fresh and to learn from all of you…….

Hi Folks, my name is Judy, I’m happy to join the new self compassion community, website,I’ve been struggling emotionally,I have read,enjoyed all of Kristen Neff’s and Chris Germer’s compassionate books,I also keep a journal, with regular meditations, I always find comfort in practicing my self compassion, I looking forward to learning and being a part of this wonderful experience, the community,
Thank you

Hello All,
I’m also Kristin. 🙂 I’m excited to join a community of others who are interested and value self-compassion. I’m mom to 2 wonderful sons and 4 pets (2 cats and 2 dogs).

I’m also a licensed clinical social worker and work in the behavioral health field as a psychotherapist and operations manager for a large healthcare organization. As a therapist, I have lots of training in a variety of different frameworks.

Though in the last several years, I have been primarily focused on mindfulness practices having completed MBSR and CWMF though Mindful Leader as well as other trainings, retreats and activities. While I do incorporate mindfulness in my professional life, I really sought out more learning for my own personal reasons and growth. Life-both work and non-work can be a lot and I was looking for other ways to live a more simple life.

I’ve been following Kristin’s work for many years and was fortunate enough to meet her this past fall at the Mindful Leader Summit. So I was thrilled to learn about this community.

Looking forward to connecting with others.

Be well,
Kristin

Hi! I am excited to join this platform and to get to know this wonderful community.

My name is Barbara and I am a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, Yoga Teacher of 36 years, and a Yoga Therapist. I enjoyed a week-long in-person training with Kristin and Chris a few years before the pandemic and MSC continues to be a positive addition to my daily life.

I look forward to reading people’s shares and saying hi at Community Events. Thanks so much, Kristin, for creating this forum!

With Metta,
Barbara

Hi everyone! I am in my 40’s, a mom of an elementary school aged child, wife, and therapist. I also have two wonderful furbabies. I love nature and have found so much peace in yoga.My personal journey of self-compassion is still in its infancy.I felt this community would tremendously help me on my journey. I also had a sweet friend gift me this subscription. And, as a therapist, I love Dr. Neff’s work and am truly excited to learn more.

Hello, friends! I’m Carol. I participated in a virtual self-compassion group with Dr. Neff during Covid. This new platform seems like a great way for me to reconnect to the teachings and meditations!

Hello. My name is Elise and I am originally from France, immigrated to Canada at 29 in 2007. I now live in Ottawa, Canada with my 3 boys (8, 12 and 16) and my husband. We’re a neurospicy family, we’re all gifted, I am ADHD, my oldest son is too, and my middle son is autistic. We’re more than these diagnoses, but, in typical ADHD fashion, I signed up and forgot to put the code for the discount !
Self-compassion is something that is new to my life, my therapist is a Buddhist and is teaching me self-compassion, on top of directing me towards Dr Neff’s work. Soften, soothe and allow is a meditation I come back to often, as 3 or 4 times a week, I struggle to be the mother my kids need me to be and the voice of not being worthy takes over. I try to practice meditation once a day, and I have been more diligent at being kind to myself and honoring my struggles. I feel the power of self compassion, how liberating it is to me, and I am looking forward to learning more, and modeling it for my children.

Howdy folks,
Dale here. It was years ago when I was struggling mightily that I came across Dr. Neff’s guided meditations. The soften, soothe, allow meditation was a huge support. I listened to it many times. It inspired me to record some supportive words in my voice that specifically addressed my situation. These recordings seemed to penetrate in ways nothing else could. I’m so grateful for the resources that were so generously provided and still are. What a gift!

I’m a certified facilitator of The Work of Byron Katie and am interested in exploring how self-compassion might serve me and others as I apply The Work. Being more compassionate of this mind makes it easier for the compassion to flow towards others including when I’m facilitating sessions. And, on a different note, I’m a sailor and love the ocean, a lifelong learner at 65, and feeling fortunate to be included in this community.
Cheers,
Dale

Hi Everybody,

My name is Dave and I live in NJ. Over the years during recovery I’ve been introduced to Kristin’s work and over the past two years, my wife and I have been going through many health and life challenges like we all do from time to time. A few other friends have mentioned Kristin’s name and work, thus I’ve been reminded that I need to be easier on myself & others. Glad to be here with you all.

Love & Peace

Hi everyone, I’m here because I’d like to learn to enjoy life without putting so much pressure on myself. I look forward to learning from all of you.

Im glad to be part of this group. Im turning 70 this year. Im interested in compassionate listening and have found that self compassion work is necessary to be a good listener. While retired, i am a life long learner and feel that this upcoming decade will be my best yet. Ive had some tough experiences along the way and know that self compassion makes my mind, body and spirit healthier.
The world needs a lot of kindness these days, it can be a challenge to live in chaotic times.
Im interested in many things related to the infinite world of energy.
Have a great day
Evie

Hello everyone! I’m Isabelle.
I am very thrilled to become a member of this compassionnate community! I’m learning to adapt to a health related early retirement and the new challenges of a disabled body.
I found that what helps me the most is the compassion I give myself and above all, the sense of common humanity throught my practice.
I find a lot of comfort in connecting with openhearted and kind humans, animals and nature’s beauty.
I thrive to learn the path of wisdom.
With love and openness!

Hello everyone, I am Alex Trost and I am proud and honored to have joined this new website and these resources as a “founding member”, which sounds just wonderful but gives me way too much credit, except that I have joined this community because I do believe this will make a difference.
I am in absolute aw of Kristin Neff’s work, and I do believe that this is the way to go.
I also love to learn, which has made me an educator, together with my dog and partner I try to balance life’s challenges in positive and self-compassionate ways and try to help others to do the same.
I am excited to be here, to meet like-minded people, to engage in how to make life a bit easier for everybody – and also for one self, as that is the core of self-compassion, and the reason I have to come to love Kristin’s wonderful insights.
Before helping others, it is vital to help and treat onself with kindness, love and compassion.
With kindness, love and compassion, I am looking forward to everybody,
Alex.

Hello!

My name is Kit and I just joined because I know how important self-compassion is to my continued recovery from ED. A little about me: I will be 37 next week, I’m going through an assisted fertility journey with my partner (another great reason to utilize self-compassion!) and I’ve really gotten into hand embroidery lately. I look forward to seeing other people’s posts and growing my self-compassion practice!

Hi Everyone!

I am Philip (pronounced fill leap), and I am the owner of Amethyst Therapeutics, PLLC, a solo-owned private practice in Tacoma, WA. I work with individuals managing Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, and PTSD. As a holistic clinician, I use several modalities to assist my clients, and one of my key modalities is Mindfulness Self-Compassion. I was introduced to MSC during my mental health journey, and it literally saved my life and allowed me to move forward into a career that I never imagined I would have.

Personally, I am a Gay man living in Tacoma, Washington. I am a proud Guardian of two cats named Marble and Phantom. I am a self-labeled Geek, and I love movies, music, tabletop games, and computer games. My passion is to give back to the community which is why I volunteer for SCORE and sometimes NAMI.

I am looking to connecting with others.

Namaste,

Philip

Hi everyone!
I am Amy Noelle, one of the self-compassion mentors here. I just wanted to share a bit more about me personally.
I am a single mom of 2 beautiful teenagers girls. I love to learn and usually I am reading 2-3 books at a time. I try to get out into nature, especially water, by hiking around the lake or beach a couple times a week. I am learning to play tennis! I’ll be counting on my self-compassion practice to support me while I learn this new skill. (The body doesn’t move like it did in my 20s. ;-).
I am thrilled to help serve this community by sharing my experiences, insights and the lessons I have learned along the way. And perhaps even more importantly, I am eager to learn from each and every one of you. Each person’s journey is unique, and there is so much wisdom to be gained from the diverse perspectives and experiences within this community.

I look forward to learning more about each of you!
With kindness,
Amy