Happiness is not waiting to have the perfect life.

We are offering mindfulness-based group training program for organizations, business and community group as well as individual training courses. We offer a Mindful Self-Compassion(MSC) group training program over 8 weeks for everyone in the Gold Coast. We also present intensive in Mindfulness and Self-Compassion in 2 and 5 days workshops, specifically targeted at professionals who wish to cultivate mindfulness and self-compassion in their personal and work life to ease stress and promote well being. In addition, we conduct a Full Day and Half-Day Mindfulness Meditation Retreats for our graduates and others who have some experience in meditation and mindfulness.

Click here for the list of dates, cost and locations of our upcoming training courses and workshops in Mindfulness and Self-Compassion

What are Mindfulness and Self-Compassion?

Mindfulness means paying attention in the here-and-now so we can develop an awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and the surrounding environment. Self-Compassion means that we attend to ourselves with kindness and care, wanting what is in our best interest in the long term to strengthen and empower ourselves. When we add self-compassion to mindfulness we greatly increase the power of transformation and our capacity for happiness.

Mindful Self-Compassion involves acceptance of ourselves; meaning that we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings without judging or criticizing ourselves or seeking the “right” or “wrong” way to think or feel in a given moment. By practising being in the present, we are not at the mercy of our harsh inner critic or of our wandering mind that is rehashing the unpleasant past or worrying about the future. We are more able to learn from the past to create a better future.

In the early stages of the practice, you become more able to recognize triggers or influences around you and opt out of the auto-pilot mode, so you can break unhelpful habits and cravings; thus becoming freer, to find your own meaningful way to live. As you become more experienced, you become more discerning and able to redirect your mind in ways where you can problem solve more effectively and enjoy life better.

Mindfulness is easy and simple. We just need to remember to do it. We can increase mindfulness and self-compassion by meditating and practising yoga, but also in everyday activities by simply paying more attention in a specific way, while walking, driving, brushing our teeth or having a shower.

Mindfulness was initially introduced to the Western World by Jon Kabat-Zinn who the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program, at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 1979. Since that time, thousands of studies have documented the physical and mental health benefits of mindfulness and more recently of self-compassion. Numerous modified programs are targeting schools, prisons, hospitals, business, corporate sectors and beyond. More recently, in 2010 Christopher Germer and Kristin Neff designed a Mindful Self-Compassion program to integrate the most recent neuroscience research findings.

The difference between Mindful Self-Compassion and other Mindfulness-Based Training

Jon Kabat-Zinn founded the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program 36 years ago to treat the chronically ill. Since then Mindfulness has revolutionized behavioural medicine and psychology. On the other hand, the Mindful Self-Compassion(MSC) program was co-created more recently, 2012 by Dr Kristin Neff and Dr Christopher Germer following years of studying, researching and teaching mindfulness, meditation and self-compassion. Mindful Self-Compassion is a skill-based training program similar in format to Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) focusing on the practice of mindfulness but also on the key aspect of how we meet our stresses and struggles.

The Mindful Self-Compassion program aims to integrate the last 30 years of research and clinical work in mindfulness and self-compassion including various concepts/strategies from MBSR, MBCT, DBT, ACT and Positive Psychology. The Mindful Self-Compassion training program incorporates principles and practices that are taught in MBSR on mindfulness but more specifically teach additional practices to improve on how we relate to ourselves to find ways to calm and soothe ourselves in times of stress. Mindful Self-Compassion introduces new practices, specifically aiming at reducing self-criticism, managing difficult emotions (emotional regulation), promoting resilience and self-care, raising motivation and confidence, developing positive relationships with the self and others as well as increasing well-being and positive emotions. It also introduces new meditations such as "affectionate breathing", "giving and receiving compassion", "compassionate friend", "loving kindness for ourselves", "soft-soothe-allow", "compassionate walking" and others.

Why mindfulness and self-compassion?

Numerous studies have shown that practising mindfulness and self-compassion, even for just a few minutes per day for a few weeks, can bring a variety of physical, psychological, cognitive and social benefits.

Here are some of these benefits in many various settings:

Good for the body: boosts the immune system’s ability to fight off illness.
Good for emotional well-being: increases positive emotions while reducing negative emotions such as stress, anxiety, anger, depression and pain.
Good for the mind; gain greater clarity and peace of mind, more able to avoid mind-traps
Good for sleep; improve the ability to relax and to increase restorative sleep
Good for stress reduction: learn effective strategies to become more resilient
Good for the brains: increases density of grey matter in brain regions to improve learning, memory, emotion regulation, empathy and nurturing while reducing the effect of ageing.
Good for the heart; reduce blood pressure but also promote open heart; appreciation, gratitude and love
Good for learning: better able to focus, tune out distractions and improves memory and attention skills.
Good for altruism: increase empathy and more likely to help ourselves or someone else
Good for self-care: become more attuned to our needs and more motivated and able to meet them
Good for relationships: more satisfaction in relationships at work and home, better social skills
Good for people skills: better able to accept, tolerate, listen, assert self and resolve conflicts.
Good for parents and parents-to-be: reduce pregnancy-related stress, anxiety and depression; promote better parenting skills, communication and happier relationships with children
Good for leadership skills: ability to motivate, inspire and empower
Good in the workplace: calmer, more flexible, more focus, more engaged, more productive.
Good in schools: teaching mindfulness in the classroom reduces behavior problems and aggression among students, and improves their happiness levels and ability to pay attention. Teachers trained in mindfulness also show lower blood pressure, less negative emotions and symptoms of depression, have greater compassion and empathy.
Good for healthcare professionals: better able to deal with stress and to connect with their patients/clients, reduce burnout, while improving their general quality of life; reduce negative emotions and anxiety, and increasing positive emotions and own feelings of self-compassion.
Good for losing weight: mindful eating and self-compassion encourages healthier eating habits, exercise, motivating weight loss.
Good for the business, corporate sector: promote better performance and relationships amongst co-workers in the workplace.
Good for reducing the effect of ageing: reduce ageing impact in the brain and heart while protecting our genes (telomere).

Mindfulness, Meditation and Self-Compassion training is for everyone from all walks of life, young or old, who wants to be more aware, to act more consciously, to live more deeply, to cultivate a more compassionate self.

What to Expect
The emphasis on Mindful Self-Compassion training is on learning mindfulness and self-compassion practices to build emotional resources. We become stronger as we develop the capacity to be with our difficulties and with ourselves, in a mindful compassionate way enabling us to deal more effectively with challenges. During the Mindful Self-Compassion Classes, the goal is for participants to directly experience and learn practices that evoke mindfulness and self-compassion that they can practice in their daily activities to transform their lives. The program was developed by Chris Germer and Kristen Neff based on the MBSR and MBCT adding the element of self-compassion based on the latest neuroscience research findings.

During the program, you will learn formal and informal practices which means ways to practice mindfulness and self-compassion throughout your day for a minute or so at the time as well as the more formal mindfulness meditation which require 15-20 minutes of dedicated time.

To assist in your learning you will be provided with a manual handout and mp3 downloads to support your home practices.

Who is it for
Anybody can attend this Mindful Self-Compassion course. This program was initially designed for everyone, however, the program has been very popular among professionals such as psychologists, social workers, nurses, medical practitioners, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, school teachers, coaches, mindfulness/yoga teachers, counsellors, as well as public servants/defence personnel.

Meditation or mindfulness experience is not necessary to participate in this training program.

Health Professionals can also attend this course and the hours will count toward their Continuing Professional Development(CPD). This Mindful Self-Compassion training course is endorsed by the Australian Association of Social Workers(AASW) and is promoted in the Australian Psychologist Association(APS) on the calendar of events. A certificate providing the number of hours of CPD attended will be provided for professionals requiring evidence of professional development certificates(CPD) (i.e. nurses, psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists, physiotherapist, doctors, teachers etc.).

Training Program Content

The training program includes 8 weeks of weekly classes plus free attendance to a full day or a half-day mindfulness retreat. We also provide intensive in Mindful Self-Compassion over 4 or 4.5 days workshops.

Each class in the course consist of:

mindfulness and self-compassion related activities such as guided meditations, visualizations, talks, experiential exercises, group discussion, self-reflective writing, strategies, and suggested home practices.
11 guided meditations and informal practices mp3 downloads
The 50-page manual handout which includes many easy tools that only take a few seconds to apply throughout the day to ease stress and struggles.

Various new mindfulness guided meditations are also presented such as "affectionate breathing", "loving kindness", "compassionate friend", "giving and receiving compassion", "compassionate mindful walking" and many others.

In the training program, we will explore the following: Definition of Self-Compassion, new research and practices in Mindfulness, Loving-Kindness, compassionate voice, reduction of inner criticisms, core values, ways to manage difficult emotions, challenging relationships, forgiveness and self-forgiveness, self-care and re-wire the brain for greater happiness and flourishing.

What Mindful Self-Compassion program is not:

The Mindful Self-Compassion training program is not group therapy, although participants can share their experiences on the path of mindful self-compassion which can be very healing. The emphasis of the training program is on skill building to enhance emotional resources and personal capacities. Mindful Self-Compassion is not a substitute for medical or mental health treatments.

Participant Guidelines
The Mindful Self-Compassion training course is an adventure in self-discovery and personal growth. During each class, we can open up to our struggles in a way that is soothing and comforting to uncover our inner strengths. The group comes together to provide a safe, supportive, confidential environment to develop compassion for ourselves and for others.

This courses teaches skills and strategies to build emotional resources and does not provide "therapy" as such.

If you are on a Mental Health Treatment Plan (MHTP) from your GP, you should consult with your health professional to assess the suitability of this course for you. If you are on a Mental Health Treatment Plan, it is also strongly advised that you are under the care of health professionals to provide you with appropriate individual treatment while attending the Mindful Self-Compassion course. The Mindful Self-Compassion course is an educational group program to build emotional resources and does not replace individual medical or psychological treatments.

Continued Professional Development Certificate (CPD)

We will issue a Continued Professional Development (CPD) certificate of attendance to participants who have attended 6 or more sessions of the 8-week program or for 75% or more of the workshop.

If you are missing some session in your current program you can inquire with us about how you can make up for the missing sessions by attending another program at a later date.

Repeating the program

If you were enrolled in a program but missed sessions, we will give you a discount for future participation to repeat the program again for a minimal fee.

Cancellation Policy

-Cancellations received up to or before 4 weeks (20 working days) before the event – the full payment will be refunded less $50.00
-Cancellations received up to 5 working days before the event – 50% of the payment of the workshop/course will be refunded and a generous discount will be offered for future participation.
-Request after registration, for a transfer to a later workshop, received 10 working days or more before the event-- the fee will be $50.00. If a request is made 10 working days or less, the fee will be $100.00.
-Cancellations received 5 working days or less before the event – sorry, there will be no refund however, a discount will be offered for future participation at a later workshop.
-Cancellation received after the start of the event- sorry no refund is provided once the program has started but we will offer a discount for future participation.
-If you are missing some sessions in the current 8-week program, you can inquire about how you can make up for the missing sessions by attending another program at a later date for a minimal fee.