Finding Self-Compassion: A Mindfulness Workbook for Getting to Know and Love Yourself

“This book is beautiful and fun to read, but most important, if you do the practices and exercises within it, you’ll learn skills that will transform your life.”—Kristin Neff, PhD, Associate Professor, Educational Psychology, University of Texas at Austin and author of The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook   “This book guides you into self-compassion in the gentlest of ways.  Dr. Spears is a talented teacher who knows how to make self-compassion live and breathe, especially in the lives of young people with diverse needs and identities. In these pages, you’ll discover how to be a friend to yourself even when it's hard to do. You only need to begin and see what happens.” —Christopher Germer, PhD, Faculty, Harvard Medical School, co-developer, Mindful Self-Compassion program, and author of The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion   “Dr. Spears makes the healing concepts and practices of self-compassion come alive in a clear, creative, and engaging way. Her journal "adventures" are designed to help young people recognize inner experiences and explore identity, including the impact of sociocultural influences, so they can create personalized strategies for responding to daily life challenges with self-kindness and resilience.” —Tracy Ochester, PsyD, Heart-Mind Coordinator for the Midwest Alliance for Mindfulness   “This workbook feels like a trusted friend. In warm, familiar, accessible language and very practical exercises, Sydney Spears leads you by the hand through the practice of self-compassion and mindfulness with warmth, kindness, and good humor. As a skilled teacher of these practices, Sydney’s warm and gentle presence is apparent on every page, and the depth of what she is teaching here is profound. The practice of mindfulness and self-compassion is simple, but also not so easy, and this workbook provides the kind of beautiful, loving support each of us need to develop these capacities.” —Steven D. Hickman, PsyD, Clinical Psychologist, Executive Director, Center for Mindful Self-Compassion, and author of Self-Compassion for Dummies   “I used to be one of the doubters. I assumed self-compassion was saccharine, self-centered, and ambition-sapping. But that was just me having my head up my ass. I have now come to see self-compassion as one of the most valuable tools for living a happy, healthy, and successful life. It is not about passivity or letting yourself off the hook; it is about having your own back. It’s not about navel gazing; it’s about turning down the volume on your inner critic so that you can help fix our jacked-up world without burning out. In this journal, you’ll learn science-based techniques from an ace teacher and therapist who will help you reduce stress, boost resiliency, and avoid our societal siren calls of distraction, disconnection, and dissatisfaction. I wish I had this when I was young.”—Dan Harris, Co-founder and author of Ten Percent Happier