When: 20 Jun 2025 - 22 Jun 2025 About the retreat: It is not always easy to treat ourselves compassionately and in many ways it can feel counter-intuitive because we’re often socialised to push on through, achieve, strive and be ‘successful’. When we fall short of these ideals our inner critic can be quick to speak up - yet research shows that self-criticism can take a heavy toll on both our minds and bodies leading to ruminative thoughts that interfere with all aspects of our functioning, and it can impact our bodies by stimulating inflammatory mechanisms that lead to health challenges. By contrast, developing the capacity to respond to ourselves with compassion when we experience life’s inevitable challenges is strongly associated with a decrease in depression, anxiety, stress and shame and with increases in happiness, life satisfaction, optimism and better physical health. It also enables us to be more available and responsive to others. The Mindful Self-Compassion programme developed by Drs Kristin Neff and Chris Germer cultivates this capacity to respond to ourselves with compassion and identifies three fundamental components: mindfulness (so we’re more aware of our direct experience), common humanity (experiencing challenge is part of the human condition that we all navigate) and self-kindness. Kindness takes two forms: tender (the capacity to validate, comfort, soothe ourselves) and fierce (the capacity to protect, provide for and motivate ourselves) in the face of difficulty. In order to be truly self-compassionate – in order to be whole – we need to integrate both the ‘tender’ and the ‘fierce’. If we are tender without fierceness, we risk becoming 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 love in our hearts so we don’t cause harm, but we also need fierceness in our belly to stand up to harm. This retreat will offer a grounding in the mindful self-compassion model focussing particularly on the ’fierce’ (or strong, assertive) aspect which can often be overlooked in popular understandings of compassion. This weekend could form part of the retreat requirement as part of the BAMBA Good Practice Guidelines for Mindfulness Teachers. Who is the Retreat for?: This Fierce Self Compassion retreat weekend is suitable for all who have followed a foundational Mindfulness-Based or Mindful Self Compassion Programme such as MSC, MBCL, MBSR or MBCT before. All MBP teachers, as well as healthcare professionals, teachers, coaches and other professionals, who wish to experientially deepen the practice of mindful self-compassion are welcome. Pre-requisites: Participants must commit to the entire weekend. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, we are unable to negotiate late arrivals or early leaving. If this is not possible, please contact us to discuss before submitting an application. Preparation for the event and what you will need: To participate in the retreat you will need: The trainer: Ali Lambie's biography is in a link at the top of this page - just click on her name to find out more about her. Online information: The retreat will take place via Zoom - a weblink and joining instructions will be sent to you before the workshop takes place. Please add mindfulness-network.org to your safe senders list and check your spam/junk folder for communication from us. Timings: Friday 20th June 6.30pm - 8.30pm; Saturday 21st June 9.30am - 12.30pm, 2-5pm and optional evening session 7-8.30pm; Sunday 22nd June 9.30am-12.30pm and 2-5pm. The weekend will include periods of silence and participants are encouraged to maintain silence or minimal verbal contact during the breaks and in the evenings in order to support a deepening of practice. Please note all times are UK, BST (British Summer Time). Our rates: Our rates have no hidden extras. Standard rate – £229 Bursary-assisted places are available on this event until 6 weeks before the event starts, we encourage early applications. If you would like to apply for a bursary-assisted place less than 6 weeks before the start date of the event please get in touch to discuss if an application is possible. When applying for a bursary-assisted place, please first register on the event and select the fee ‘I’m applying for a bursary-assisted place’. Once you have registered for the event you will also need to complete and return a bursary application form. To find out more about our bursary schemes, criteria for bursary applications and to complete the bursary application form please visit: https://home.mindfulness-network.org/bursaries/ Employer’s rate: Recognising the large administrative overhead of dealing with employers, we will be adding a £50 non-refundable surcharge if the employer is paying directly; where possible we would advise applicants to pay themselves and reclaim on expenses to avoid the charge. The application and payment process: Our application and payment process involve the following steps: Payment and cancellation policy: Please read our Terms and Conditions for information regarding payments and cancellations. Other information: Please see the British Association of Mindfulness-Based Approaches (BAMBA) for good practice guidelines and other information for mindfulness-based teachers. Contact us: Please feel free to email us at retreats@mindfulness-network.org to discuss any questions you may have about the course or whether it is appropriate for you at this time. We will ensure that your query reaches the correct person.
Where: Online Event
Tutor: Ali Lambie
Click here to sign up to this event.
