It’s common for people to think of self-compassion as being tender, gentle, and nurturing — which it is. And, as Dr. Kristin Neff explains in this short video, there is also a fierce side to self-compassion that is crucial to our mental health.

Fierce Self-compassion helps us take action to protect ourselves, speak up, and make changes in our lives.

We hope this teaching helps deepen your understanding of self-compassion. And, if you would like to learn more, we invite you to check out the Fierce Self-Compassion workshop that Dr. Neff is leading this Saturday, February 25 (more on that below).

This Saturday! Fierce Self-Compassion Workshop with Dr. Kristin Neff

This unique workshop led by Dr. Neff explores the action-oriented side of self-compassion including protecting ourselves and drawing boundaries.

Fierce self-compassion involves taking action in the world to protect, provide and motivate ourselves to alleviate suffering. It means sometimes saying no to others and yes to ourselves. Drawing boundaries is an essential part of self-compassion, yet it can be hard to do when we’re afraid of others’ reactions.

Self-compassion gives us the power and wisdom to take a stand on what’s most important to us with brave empowered clarity. It means giving ourselves what we genuinely need – mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually – without subordinating our needs to those of others, so we can be authentic and fulfilled.

Learn more and register here >>

About Kristin Neff

Kristin Neff, PhD received her doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley, studying moral development. She did two years of postdoctoral study at the University of Denver studying self-concept development. She is currently an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin.

During Kristin’s last year of graduate school she became interested in Buddhism and has been practicing meditation in the Insight Meditation tradition ever since. While doing her post-doctoral work she decided to conduct research on self-compassion – a central construct in Buddhist psychology and one that had not yet been examined empirically. Kristin is a pioneer in the field of self-compassion research, creating a scale to measure the construct over fifteen years ago. In addition to writing numerous academic articles and book chapters on the topic, she is author of the book Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself, released by William Morrow.

In conjunction with her colleague Dr. Chris Germer, she has developed an empirically supported training program called Mindful Self-Compassion, which is taught by thousands of teachers worldwide. They co-authored The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook as well as Teaching the Mindful Self-Compassion Program: A Guide for Professionals, both published by Guilford. She is also co-founder and board president of the nonprofit Center for Mindful Self-Compassion.