Save The World Through Living Mindfully With Self Compassion - 2 Books To Read

I had been a long time meditator and worked as a life coach for many years before being introduced to the work of Kristin Neff and Chris Germer, who have taken the Buddhist practices of self compassion and mindfulness and have re-worked them for the Western mind.

After reading both books and completing the 8 week mindful self-compassion program, I quickly enrolled in the 'mindful self compassion teacher training program' and recently completed a 6 day silent meditation retreat in preparation.

Why am I so keen and why do I say we can save the world through these practices? The science is catching up to what ancient wisdom has always known and that is that meditation changes the brain through neuroplasticity and meditating in retreat has a great effect ('Altered Traits' by Goleman & Davis). Living mindfully and with self compassion changes the heart and can change behaviours, giving folks 'pause', that chance to stop and choose an action rather than to react thoughtlessly. Imagine if every person in the world had brains with a greater capacity for 'hive mind' and was always at choice point? That would change the world!