When our good friends encounter challenges,

A default response for many of us is often:

To have their back
To show up fully
To be kind
To put judgment aside,
And to remind them that they are not alone.

When we turn this practice, of being for someone, toward ourselves, particularly in the face of:

obstacles,
hardships,
adversity,
and failure,

it's called self-compassion.

A practice that involves recognizing our own suffering, and meeting it with love,

As we learn to become a good friend to ourselves.

Over time learning to listen less to the harsh whispers of the inner critic,

And more to the encouraging words from that wiser part of us - Our inner ally.

When we practice in this way, the door to a more sustainable and expansive experience opens,

And we have the opportunity to walk through it and into the rest of our life with greater resilience, ease, wellbeing, and balance.

Today’s guest, Megan Prager, is Director of Compassion Programs at the University of California San Diego’s Center for Mindfulness.

Megan is one of the leading teachers of mindful self compassion in the US.

She hosts retreats, classes, and experiences that offer the opportunity to learn mindfulness, compassion, and a whole host of practices that foster an opportunity to learn to become better friends to ourselves.

Today we are going to take a deep dive into Megan’s journey to becoming the teacher and leader she is today.

A journey that was marked by her own experiences of adversity, suffering, and (particularly at the beginning) skepticism of the very practices she now teaches.

We’ll also get into the fiercer aspects of self-compassion that involve:

Boundary setting,

Fnding the courage to show up in integrity,

And how self-compassion can be helpful in the challenging and uncertain times we find ourselves in.

For more on Megan, her classes, retreats, teacher trainings, and various other offerings, please visit mindfullabs.com

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