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Eight months of Self-Compassion Practice in Community
Grounded in over a decade of evolution in the MSC lineage, the Self-Compassion Deep Dive is designed for people who already have a foundation in mindfulness and self-compassion. It combines weekly live classes with Self-Compassion Community membership to support the shift from understanding self-compassion to truly living it.
This life-changing experience provides opportunities to deepen your self-compassion practice in a committed, global community. The Deep Dive is an elaboration of the eight-week Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) curriculum, with each MSC session spread out over an entire month. Participants learn to deepen and embody self-compassion in daily life through regular practice, meeting for a 2-hour session, once a week, for eight months.
Group sizes are intentionally kept small, with a slow-paced, spiral learning approach that allows participants to savor the material and consciously embody, expand, and deepen their learning. Participants will be invited to engage in rigorous self-contemplation while integrating self-compassion into the learning laboratory of daily life.
This course is not an introduction to self-compassion. Participants have an established foundation in self-compassion, ideally having one year of personal practice and some experience in a mindfulness- or self-compassion-focused community. (For more information about the prerequisites for this course, go here).
In addition to weekly class sessions, all participants will receive an annual membership in the Self-Compassion Community to support their practice.
This course was originally developed in 2016 by Aimee Eckhardt as the “MSC Community for Deepening Practice.” It has evolved over a decade with meaningful contributions from her team of MSC teachers. Hundreds of people worldwide have been transformed by the course. In its newest incarnation, now being hosted by the Self-Compassion Institute, it is evolving to meet the unique challenges of our time and integrating the course experience with full membership in the Self-Compassion Community.
This is a rich and rigorous program of self-discovery. In the Deep Dive, participants return to core self-compassion concepts and ask, “What gets in the way? What helps? What is needed? What is mine to do?” With an emphasis on daily practice, self-compassion gradually shifts from an idea to an embodied response to the challenges of living.
Interpersonal connection is key to easing some of the difficult emotions that get in the way of ripening self-compassion (in particular, shame). The Deep Dive prioritizes respectfully held space and trauma-informed practice. Through witnessing each other’s experiences, participants’ self-compassion grows strong roots. Common humanity is a powerful teacher.
Participants receive a one-year membership in the Self-Compassion Community. They can attend regular mentor sessions to get guidance, ask questions at one of Dr. Neff’s monthly gatherings or guest conversations, meet their needs in the moment with an extensive Practice Toolkit, set up daily practice reminders, and much more. It’s a great way to get support even after the Deep Dive course ends.
The outline below offers the typical order of topics that we’ll cover in the Deep Dive. The exact content presented may shift in relation to world events, participant needs, guest speaker schedules, and so on. Topics marked with an asterisk may or may not be offered, depending on emergent class needs.
Where are We Headed, and How?
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Self-compassion is a new normal. It’s a touchstone. It totally changed my life. I don’t go out of the door without this kinder, gentler life. I wake up with it. I don’t have any intention of going back to some of those well-worn paths of thinking, which are now strange to me.
— 2022 Graduate
“This place feels like home even when I’m away from it.”
— 2024 Graduate
“It’s an unbelievably safe place. It’s the way I’d love the world to be.”
— 2024 Graduate
Aimee Eckhardt
Deep Dive creator and Certified MSC Teacher
Amy Noelle
Certified MSC teacher and coach
A deposit is required with your application to hold your place. If the SC Team determines that the Deep Dive is not the right fit at this time based on your eligibility or readiness, your deposit will be fully refunded. Otherwise, the deposit is non-refundable.
At least one year of prior mindfulness and self-compassion practice, with some relational practice over time. Taking the 8-week Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) course can also meet the requirement, and many MSC graduates enjoy taking the Deep Dive to strengthen their practice.
Opening our hearts to ourselves can activate difficult emotions. While you’re always in charge of your engagement, the course may not be appropriate for those currently navigating acute trauma. For more information, read this information about preparing for the course.
We are not providing scholarships in the first cohort of this course, but we do expect to offer reduced rates in future cohorts. For any questions, please contact info@self-compassion.org.
$175
Includes the first year of annual membership in the Self-Compassion Community.
Steve Hickman is a co-developer of the Mindful Self-Compassion Teacher Training, a retired clinical psychologist and the Founding Director of the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness. Steve has taught self-compassion and mindfulness across the globe, and is the author of Self-Compassion for Dummies.
We’d love you to welcome him. You can register ahead of time, or just drop in!
Scholarship Rates
