My next 8-week course will be a course on FIERCE SELF-COMPASSION and taught with my colleague Wiebke Pausch in the winter of 2024. Prerequisite: You already have attended the MSC 8-week or 10-week program, or the MSC Intensive with us or another teacher.

The Mindful Self-Compassion Program focuses on the tender, nurturing aspect of self-compassion, which involves “being with” ourselves in a compassionate way. But self-compassion can be fierce as well as tender. The FSC course is based on the work of Kristin Neff, author of the book Fierce Self-Compassion, and offers a unique opportunity for both Self-Compassion practitioners and MSC teachers to delve deeper into the concept of Fierce Self-Compassion. It provides invaluable insights and practical tools to integrate fierceness alongside tenderness in your self-compassion journey.

Fierce Self-Compassion involves:

• Taking action in the world to protect, provide, and motivate ourselves to alleviate suffering and thrive
• Being able to say “no” to others who are hurting us – Beginning to draw our boundaries firmly
• Saying “no” to our own harmful behaviors, so that we can be safe and healthy
• Giving ourselves what we genuinely need – mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually

This unique course explores the action-oriented side of self-compassion that begins with the inner work of fierce self-compassion. Prior experience with self-compassion is recommended before taking this course. This course will take you one step further as you learn how self-compassion can help you speak up and claim your power. It is a unique opportunity for both self-compassion practitioners and mindful self-compassion teachers.

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Learning Objectives:​​

• Describe how the three key components of self-compassion manifest when protecting ourselves, providing for our needs, and motivating change
• Begin to recognize and transcend the blocks to drawing effective boundaries
• Learn to work with and harness your anger as a constructive support
• Identify your needs and give yourself permission to meet them
• Develop skills to motivate yourself with encouragement rather than criticism
• Understand how fierce self-compassion can be utilized for social change

Throughout the program we will discover that in order to be truly self-compassionate – in order to be whole – we need to integrate both versions of self-compassion, the tender and the fierce. 

If we are gentle without fierceness, we risk becoming complacent or disempowered; if we are fierce without tenderness, we risk becoming hostile or selfish. Like a tree with a solid trunk and flexible branches, we need to stand strong while still embracing others as part of an interdependent whole. We need love in our hearts so we don’t perpetuate harm, but we need fierceness in our belly to stand up to harm.

Dates

Mondays 18:30 – 21:00 CET (Berlin Time)

Nov 25, 2024, Dec 2/9/16, 2024, (no class on Dec 23/30), Jan 6/13 /20/27,  2025​

Venue: Live online on Zoom

Cost

The course consists of 8 sessions of 2,5 hours each including guided meditations to download as mp3. Sliding scale: 430,- € reduced / 480,- € normal rate / 530,- € for supporters. Early bird fee of 430,- € available until October 1, 2024.

Prerequisites for participation

This course is open to anyone who has completed the 8-week or 10-week Mindful Self-Compassion Course, or the 5-Day Intensive MSC Course. Our courses are suitable for native English speakers, non-native English-speakers, and native German-speakers able to participate in English. People of any social, ethnic, etc. origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, religious affiliation or age are very welcome!

For MSC teachers this course is an enriching experience as it enables them to effectively integrate the transformative aspect of fierce compassion. The course is a prerequisite for the FSC Teacher Training Practicum. 

Registration

To register for the course please send me an email: msc@anjabenesch.com.

MSC Course (Mindful Self-Compassion) ❋ 8 Weeks

The MSC course is a training course in (self-)compassion and is like a journey that is also an adventure in self-knowledge and self-kindness. The course consists of meditations, short lectures, self-awareness exercises, sharing in the group and exercises to do at home. It provides participants with a direct experience of self-compassion and to practice practices that allow self-compassion to arise in everyday life. Mindful self-compassion is an inner attitude of kindness, understanding and caring towards ourselves – especially in difficult moments of life.  In the course, we learn to approach ourselves in the same understanding and supportive way as we would a good friend.

Self-compassion has the paradoxical effect of both caring for us in the face of our emotional suffering and opening us up to the pain we may have been holding unconsciously for a long time. During the course, distressing feelings will emerge alongside many pleasant ones as we grow in our ability to experience and to be with them. The course offers a safe and supportive setting in a small group where this process can unfold. It is open to all who are interested; meditation experience is not necessary to participate. All are welcome!

In the MSC 8 Week Course, you will learn the following: