Meditations

Feel free to download the following meditations for your personal use. They are intended to guide you through the first phase of mindful self-compassion training. The meditations are primarily instructional in nature and briefer than most meditation sessions. Please use the downloads until you understand the practices and can practice on your own.
Additional Meditations at CMSC

MSC Core Meditations

Affectionate Breathing (18 min)

Written Instructions (PDF)

Affectionate Breathing (32 min)

Loving-Kindness for Ourselves

Written Instructions (PDF)

Giving and Receiving Compassion

Written Instructions (PDF)

Other MSC Meditations

Loving-Kindness of a Loved One

Written Instructions (PDF)

Compassionate Body Scan

Written Instructions (PDF)

Compassionate Friend

Written Instructions (PDF)

Compassion for Self and Others

Written Instructions (PDF)

Additional MSC Practices

Self-Compassion Break (6 min)

Written Instructions (PDF)

Self-Compassion Break (13 min)

Written Instructions (PDF)

Compassion with Equanimity

Working with Difficult Emotions

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Self-Compassion in Daily Life (PDF)

Finding Loving-Kindess Phrases

Written Instructions (PDF)
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Compassionate Letter to Myself (PDF)

Compassionate Walking

Soften Soothe Allow

Mindfulness of Emotions in the Body

Labeling Emotions

Loving-Kindness for Beginners

Forgiveness of Others

Forgiveness of Ourselves

Self-Compassion Break for Shame

Fair Use Policy

When posting these handout materials online or when distributing printed materials, please be sure to cite the source in the following way:

© Christopher Germer & Kristin Neff (2021). Mindful Self-Compassion. All rights reserved.

For more on permission to use materials from the MSC curriculum, please click here

The Center for Mindful Self-Compassion provides information about MSC, an 8-week program designed to cultivate self-compassion skills for daily life. Founded in 2012 by Chris Germer and Kristin Neff, the center is a place where people can learn about self-compassion, find out where to train in MSC, continue to practice MSC skills, and explore how to teach MSC to others. Please go to the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion for further details.

Center for Mindful Self-Compassion
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