Free Two-Session Workshop: Self-Compassion and Boundaries for the Holidays
The first session of this workshop will be about 2 hours and will focus on self-compassion for the holidays. It will be on Sunday, November 15 at noon Eastern US (time zone converter here). The second session will focus on boundary setting, and will include a discussion with Michelle Gladieux of Gladieux Consulting on skillful communication. This session will be about two and a half hours and will be on Saturday, December 12 at noon Eastern US (time zone converter here). These are two of the most popular sessions I offer, and when you sign-up, you’ll be registered for both. For the sign-up link and all the details, keep scrolling! (You can jump to info on the boundaries session by clicking here, and you can jump to the registration button here.)
[Please note that because of my unpredictable schedule the date may need to change. Thank you for understanding.]
Info on the Holiday Self-Compassion Session:
The holiday season can be a time of connection and joy, but because it involves human beings, it can also be kind of complicated. I offer this session annually to provide resources for when things aren’t as smooth as we would like. This class will draw on exercises from the evidence-based Mindful Self-Compassion program. We’ll talk about what self-compassion is and how it does or does not show up in your life. We’ll cover the research on the benefits of self-compassion, and address common misgivings, such as the perception that self-compassion is ‘weak.’ We will then try some practices designed to encourage self-compassion in the midst of difficulties, including a practice for working with caregiving fatigue and burnout---something that can show up over the holidays (as well as the rest of the year!).
(Please note that the first hour of this session will be very similar to week 1 of my self-compassion classes, including the Supportive Touch and Self-Compassion Break practices. The second hour will cover the Compassion with Equanimity practice for caregiving fatigue and burnout from week 5 of that course. If you are very familiar with Mindful Self-Compassion, this class will be a refresher, but nothing new. If you know people that are interested in learning about self-compassion, please forward this info!)
You are welcome to engage in the sessions in any way you wish. You can have camera-on or camera-off, and you can engage in discussions or rest back and simply listen. You can also come and go as you need to, and I'll provide recordings and handouts on what we cover so you can review the information at your leisure.
Info on the Boundaries Session:
We often hear about the need to draw boundaries, especially around the holidays! But most of us find it very challenging to do that, especially in longstanding complicated relationships. In truth, trouble with setting boundaries is part of our common human experience. When we have a built-in desire to care for and help others, cultural and family messages can co-opt that beautiful aspiration and tell us that our validity as a human being depends on being people-pleasing or making sure we keep everyone around us happy. That is an invitation to shame, guilt and an inability to set boundaries---even if those boundaries are crucial to our well-being.
So the first step to setting a boundary has nothing to do with actually setting a boundary. It is about discovering the often subconscious obstacles that keep us from creating boundaries and stating our needs. When we can see those obstacles, we can use both the tender and fierce aspects of self-compassion to help free us from them. The first half of this session will focus on that with a discussion and exercise from the Fierce Self-Compassion course.
Once we relearn how to support ourselves, we then need to figure out how to set a boundary. That is a vast subject, but I’m lucky to have a co-teacher who will present reasons and methods for communicating courageously in personal and professional life. Michelle Gladieux is President of Gladieux Consulting, a company known for 1:1 coaching, team workshops, and executive coaching for 20+ years around the U.S., based in Fort Wayne. She's also the author of the award-winning book Communicate with Courage: Taking Risks to Overcome the Four Hidden Challenges.
She will share ways to express yourself in challenging conversations so your needs are heard and acted upon more often. She'll discuss obstacles that keep us from advocating for ourselves (and others) and what to do about them. She'll then do a question and answer session where you can ask about your own communication challenges.
Please note this session is not designed to tell you when or how to set a boundary. You don’t want to make major life decisions—that could have significant consequences—based on a single workshop! Instead, we hope to offer tools to better understand and support yourself in situations where setting boundaries may need to be done.
Although anyone is welcome to attend these two sessions, it helps if you have some familiarity with self-compassion in both its tender and fierce forms. Here is a basic handout on self-compassion in general, and here is a handout on fierce self-compassion if you want something to review prior to the session. As always, a session like this can bring up challenging emotions, so make sure this is the right time to do this. You know what is best for you, so listen to your inner guide about attending; we will be doing it again!
This workshop is freely offered to make it as accessible as possible. To register, you can go to this webpage to read the waiver and sign up, or you can use the button below. Thank you for your interest in this, and let me know if you have any questions (modestlymindful@gmail.com).
Photo by Clay LeConey on Unsplash