Cultivating Self-Compassion & Building a Self-Care Toolkit
What you'll learn
- The proven power of self-compassion
- Give yourself the care you deserve
- How to be a compassionate ally to yourself
- Set and keep healthy boundaries
- Self-compassion and mindfulness practices for self-soothing and stress relief
- Recognize your self-defeating patterns and overcome them
- Integrate self-compassion practices into your daily routines
- Keep stress from escalating
- Make mindful moments a self-compassion habit
Requirements
- It is not necessary to have prior experience or education to enroll in this course.
- To get the most out of this course you should actively engage with the content.
- Here are guidelines you should follow for participating in this course. Following these guidelines for how to take this course will vastly increase your success cultivating self-compassion.
- Preparation for the Course • Designate a set space for taking the course • Ensure you will not be disturbed • Choose a specific day and time • Treat the course like a scheduled live or a zoom class • Do in consecutive weeks • Have a dedicated journal or notebook
- During the Course • Allot 1 hour for each session • Complete Sessions 1-9 in order • Record in your journal or notebook all responses and thoughts • Respond to reflection questions • Complete personal exercises to apply concepts • Engage in self-compassion practices • Follow guided practices • Do assigned tasks before the next session
Description
With a Certificate of Completion, professionals can earn 2 units of Graduate-Level Professional Development Semester Credits from University of the Pacific.*
Contents and Overview
This is a 9-week on-demand course that will help you become a compassionate ally to yourself. Drawing from neuroscience, psychology, education, medicine, and mindfulness, you'll learn many mind and body practices, experience personal exercises and come away with your unique self-care plan.
This is an action-packed and thought-provoking course filled with self-compassion and mindfulness practices, incorporating the most evidence-based strategies and interventions available. Through guided practices using visualization, sensory awareness, touch, mindfulness, and meditation, you’ll make self-compassion an active practice.
In this course, any act or deed done on your own behalf, as well as any behavior change that supports your well-being and personal growth are considered under the umbrella of self-compassion and self-care.
This course was specifically designed for you to interact with the content, being an active learner rather than a passive listener. There are reflective prompts to get you thinking about the material and personal exercises and practices so you can apply the concepts to you and your situation. Each topic there has a brief summary of the relevant research, content information, and practices to use in daily life.
There are 9 sessions, each with a separate video. Each session video is approximately 1 hour and includes 5 to 11 short videos and lectures with PowerPoints and visuals. This makes it convenient for you to break up your viewing to meet your schedule.
These are the sessions and lectures covered in the course.
Session 1 Why We Need to Practice Self-Compassion
The 4 Ps of Progress: Purpose, Patterns, Practice and Perseverance
Our Brains Are Wired for Selflessness
What is Self-Compassion?
Three Core Components of Self-Compassion
Research on the Benefits of Self-Compassion
Latest Research Relative to Self-Compassion and COVID-19
How Self-Esteem and Self-Compassion Differ
Self-Compassion Practices
Session 2 Cut Yourself Some Slack and Temper Your Inner Critic
What Are You Telling Yourself?
Learn the Language of Self Support
How to Temper Your Inner Critic
Be Your Accepting Advocate Not Your Condemning Critic
Common Types of Stress Producing Self-Talk
Session 3 Set Healthy Boundaries and Take a Stand for Yourself
Embrace the Fierce Side of Self-Compassion
Know the Early Signs of Burnout
Why Healthy Boundaries Are an Essential Component of Self-Care
Set Healthy Boundaries
Learn to Say No
Session 4 Ditch Your Downers to Combat Negativity
Countering Our Brain’s Negativity Bias
Happiness Setpoint
Increase Your Positivity Quotient to Counter Negativity
Proactive Practices to Establish a Positive Mindset
Why Putting a Smile on Your Face is Good for You
Practices to Get More Smiles into Your Day
Why Be an Optimist?
Research on Optimists vs. Pessimists
Session 5 Balance the Ebb and Flow of Emotions for Greater Well-Being
Emotions: Acceptance not Suppression
10 Reasons Why Suppressing Feelings Is Not Good for You
Anger and Your Body
Anger Impacts Women More than Men
Why Label Your Emotions
Purposeful Mantras to Interrupt a Negative Cycle
Practices to Get Out of a Funk
Session 6 Embrace Positivity and Moments of Joy
Authentic Happiness
Moving from Authentic Happiness to Flourishing
Practices to Increase Positivity
Positive Emotions Create an Upward Spiral
Moments of Joy Can Coexist with Suffering
Positive Psychology Activities
The Power of Gratitude for Your Own Well-Being
Research Findings on the Benefits of Performing Acts of Kindness
Build on Your Character Strengths
Four Categories of Strengths: Cognitive, Social, Emotional, and Physical
Session 7 Manage Stress by Being Proactive
The Delicate Balance of Relaxation and Stress
Be an Early Responder
Learn to Read Your Body’s Stress Signals
Social-Emotional Effects of Stress
What Happens Under Chronic Stress
Build Up Your Defenses Against Stress
10 Instant Stress Busters and Why They Work
Simple Ways to Reduce Stress
Session 8 Mindfulness Practices for Self-Soothing, Relaxation and Stress Relief
How We Breathe
Breathing for Different Purposes
Four Ways to Practice Breathing
Mindfulness Practices for Reducing Stress
Progressive Muscle Relaxation (also called Tension-Release Relaxation)
The Benefits of Safe Touch
Self-Touch for Self-Soothing and Stress Relief
Stimulate the Vagas Nerve for Self-Soothing, Relaxation and Stress Relief
Havening Techniques for Self-Soothing
Our Mind-Body Connection is a Two-Way Street
Short-Term and Moderate Stress Can Be Useful
Session 9 Design Your Unique Self-Care Plan
Make a Self-Compassion Pledge
How to Build a New Habit and Break an Old Habit
Make Self-Care a Habit
How Long Does It Take to Create a New Habit?
Get Started Designing Your Self-Care Plan
Establish Daily Rituals and Set Intentions
Create Lists of Self-Care Acts
Take Moments of Self-Care
Craft Your Self-Care Plan
Select Your Priorities from a Review of the Topics Covered
Some Long-Term Self-Care Projects
Downloadable Additional Resources
9 sets of PowerPoint slides for each Session
Over 100 Personal Exercises and Practices
Self-Acceptance Guided Meditation
My Self-Compassion Pledge
Four Inspirational Poems about Self-Compassion
*To receive a Certificate of Completion:
View the videos and respond only to specific question(s) in the question space from the Assignments. However, it is recommended that you keep your own journal with the responses to all the steps and questions in each Personal Exercise and Assigned Task so you will have a complete set of responses to reflect on and revisit. A Certificate of Completion from Udemy is available only for those who pay a fee for the course.
To earn 2 units of Graduate-Level Professional Development Semester Credits from the University of the Pacific, you will need to attach your Certificate of Completion, fill out the registration form, and pay the fee online at Courses4teachers.
Who this course is for:
- Anyone wanting to be kinder to themselves, temper their inner critic, and make self-compassion a way of life
Instructors
- 4.7 Instructor Rating
- 12 Reviews
- 109 Students
- 1 Course
Barbara Larrivee has a doctorate in research methods and humanistic education and a masters in special education. She has written 8 books, 25 articles in education, psychology and counseling journals, and articles for The Health Journal, Best Self, Mantra Magazine, and Yogi Approved Magazine.
Her work and writing span many areas, including classroom management, managing challenging behavior, creating learning communities based on respectful communication, and becoming a reflective practitioner. Her more recent work focuses on cultivating self-compassion, practicing mindfulness, reducing stress, and building social and emotional skills.
Her books for educators include co-editor of Educating Mindfully: Stories of School Transformation Through Mindfulness and author of Cultivating Teacher Renewal: Guarding Against Stress and Burnout, Authentic Classroom Management: Creating a Learning Community and Building Reflective Practice and An Educator’s Guide to Teacher Reflection.
Her books for a general audience include Moving into Balance: Creating Your Personal Pathway, and most recently, A Daily Dose of Mindful Moments: Applying the Science of Mindfulness and Happiness. This book blends mindfulness and happiness research to offer brief, research-based practices to weave mindful moments into daily life.
She has presented her work and conducted workshops internationally. She is a longtime mindfulness practitioner and yogi and has conducted workshops at personal growth centers.
- 4.7 Instructor Rating
- 12 Reviews
- 109 Students
- 1 Course
Kinlike Media is led by creator Rachel Wagner, who lives to get in the zone on videos and animations, perfecting details until they are done. You can hire her to produce and direct video shoots, and to steer all video editing and animation (2D, 3D) to completion.
The Kinlike Media studio is based in Columbus, Ohio, and the business is open for travel or remote work.