Compassion: A weekend Retreat exploring Self Compassion for Difficult Emotions with Caroline Hoffman and Zoe Shobbrook-Fisher
When: 20 Mar 2026 - 22 Mar 2026 About the retreat: Experiencing difficult emotions is an inherent part of being human, but it often leads to pain and feelings of isolation. Mindful self-compassion can help us respond to these emotions with kindness instead of self-criticism, fostering a vital inner resource. On this retreat we will explore the empowering practice of meeting emotions like anxiety, fear, depression, uncertainty and shame with both tender and fierce self-compassion 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. 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 impacting 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. This weekend could form part of the retreat requirement as part of the BAMBA Good Practice Guidelines for Mindfulness Teachers. You may also wish to attend our donation event in October 2025, 'Meeting difficult emotions with self compassion with Caroline Hoffman.' Further details can be found here About Mindful Self Compassion: 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. Who is the Retreat for?: This 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: 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 March: 6.30pm - 8.30pm Saturday 21st March: 9.30am - 12.30pm, 2-5pm and 7-8.30pm Sunday 22nd March: 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. If you are attending from a different time zone, please check the equivalent times in your time zone. 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
Tutors: Caroline Hoffman, Zoe Shobbrook-Fisher
Click here to sign up to this event.
