This workshop is not being offered at this time, please subscribe to Emily’s newsletter for announcements of further dates.
Main Instructor: Emily Moody, with Co-Teacher Janice Cormier
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) is an empirically-supported 8-week program designed to cultivate the skill of self-compassion. Mindfulness and compassion have often been described as two wings of a bird – we need both to soar. Mindfulness teaches us to turn toward and acknowledge our experience with a spirit of openness and curiosity. Self-compassion involves responding to any difficulties that arise with kindness, warmth and understanding. Being both mindful and compassionate leads to greater ease and well-being in our daily lives.
Self-compassion provides the emotional strength and resilience so that we can offer ourselves the same kindness and understanding we would offer a good friend. With self-compassion we can motivate ourselves with encouragement, forgive ourselves when needed, face and befriend our shortcomings, care for others while caring for self, and live more authentically. Rapidly expanding research shows that self-compassion is strongly linked with emotional well-being, lower levels of anxiety and depression, healthy habits such as diet and exercise, and more satisfying personal relationships.
Location: 4812 St. Laurent, Equilibrium Yoga Studio
Course fee: $550*, includes workbook & 4 hour retreat day (10% discount for students, unemployed or if you register with a friend.) You can register at the link below by making a 50% deposit to reserve your spot.
Schedule: Eight Friday mornings, 9-12 pm (+ retreat day on May 24, 1:30-5:30 pm).
Language: In English, with bilingual discussion format.
Self-compassion is a skill that can be learned by anyone, even those who were not modeled compassion in their childhood or who live with a strongly internalized inner critic. Previous meditation experience is not necessary, but helpful. MSC is based on the research of psychologists Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer and is designed to reflect the same format of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program. The program combines meditation practice, body work, short talks and group inquiry to provide a multifaceted and complete program for developing self compassion and mindfulness in your every day life.
In this course, you will learn:
- The three key components of self-compassion: self-kindness, a sense of common humanity, and mindful awareness
- Mindfulness and self-compassion practices for home and everyday life
- Body work practices inspired by self-compassion
- The science and research behind self-compassion
- How to handle difficult emotions with greater ease
- How to motivate yourself with kindness rather than criticism
- How to identify your inner critic and relate to feelings of perfectionism, low self-esteem and low self worth in a healthier way
- How to stop being so hard on yourself and become your own best teacher
- How developing compassion can transform challenging relationships, both old and new
- The art of savoring and self-appreciation
What you can expect: You will be welcomed into an open and warm environment, where participants are invited to sit in a circle of cushions on the floor, or can use chairs or a comfortable sofa. Most groups have between 16-20 participants. Each session begins with an opening meditation to ground and settle you, as well as introduce you to the Self-Compassion meditation we will be working with that week. Each week a new theme of Self-Compassion is introduced, which is then discussed in an interactive, bilingual discussion format and participants are free to engage at the level they feel most comfortable. Participants can share how their weekly practice is going, bring up challenges or ask questions related to the material. Some of the themes to be explored include: What is Self Compassion, Foundations in Mindfulness, Practicing Loving Kindness, Discovering Your Compassionate Voice, Meeting Difficult Emotions, Gratitude practices and Self-Appreciation. Small group discussions and writing exercise are also used throughout the program to help participants process and integrate the concepts in a profound way. During the course, participants are encouraged to work up to a daily practice of formal or informal meditations of 30 minutes per day. There is a break for tea and cookies half way through each session, as well as light body stretching led by a yoga instructor that integrates the Self-Compassion theme for that week. The 4 hour retreat day towards the end of the program is a wonderful opportunity for participants to integrate and embody the Self-Compassion practices introduced and is often a highlight for many participants!
Emily is a trained teacher with the Center of Mindful Self Compassion and has received direct training under the guidance of Dr. Kristen Neff and Dr. Chris Germer. She has been teaching the mindfulness-based stress reduction group for 6 years and is excited to share her new passion for the growing area of mindful self compassion research and practice with you.
Official receipts available as psychotherapist or social worker.
This course is approved by the Order of Psychologists of Quebec for 28 CEs (Catalogue number RA01844-16)
Click here for online registration and payment»
If you prefer to pay by cheque, please send a cheque written to my name for the deposit or full tuition amount to my office address below:
Emily Moody
1217 Bernard, #217
Outremont, Qc, H2V 1V7
* So that mindfulness training may be accessible to all, Emily is now offering several scholarship placements (at %30 discounted rate) within each of her 8-week courses. If you would like to apply for this scholarship placement please contact Emily.
All Friday morning 8 week workshops are held at the Equilibrium Yoga Studio, 4812 Boul St-Laurent, Montréal, QC
Mindful Self Compassion Teachers
Emily Moody (MA, MSW, MFT) is a Certified Teacher with the Center of Mindful Self Compassion and has been leading mindfulness-based groups for almost a decade. She has received professional training under the direction of Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, Dr. Kristen Neff and Dr. Christopher Germer, leading figures in the development of mindfulness and self-compassion. She is also a psychotherapist working with individuals, couples, and families to find greater harmony, both within themselves and in their most important relationships. Emily has been in private practice since 2010 and has extensive experience in integrating mindfulness and psychotherapy, particularly around issues of anxiety, depression, loss and stress-management. She is also a Marital and Family therapist (MFT), working with issues of parenting, communication difficulties, rebuilding emotional and physical intimacy, cross-cultural issues, separation/divorce, blended families, the LGBTQ community and general relationship enhancement. Emily has taught mindfulness & self compassion workshops in many institutions in Montreal and internationally, including in California, India and the Bahamas.
Janice Cormier (MA Educ.) is an educator specializing in compassion education, experiential learning, and arts-based learning. She is a Trained Teacher of Mindful Self Compassion from the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness, and has studied Compassion Cultivation, and the Psychology and Science of Compassion at Stanford University. Janice has been involved in contemplative practices for over 10 years. She has several years of experience as a facilitator working in various community organizations. Janice also has a passion for the arts, and is a professional ceramic artist and sculptor. Combining her interests, she is currently exploring ways to teach compassion cultivation through arts-based practices.
Dr. Rami Nijjar is a clinical psychologist, sex therapist, and trained MSC teacher. She spent the last 5 years working in Vancouver, splitting her time between private practice, working in the Sexual Medicine department of the Vancouver General Hospital, and supervising doctoral students at Adler University. She has also been working to adapt MSC to fit the needs of trans and BIPOC folks and trauma survivors. Rami returns to Montreal this fall to teach at the Sex and Couples Therapy Service at the Royal Victoria Hospital and share her expertise in the city she loves.