Heartwork: The Path of Self-Compassion--9 Practices for Opening the Heart

Nine simple mindfulness practices anyone can use to generate compassion--toward oneself, others, and the world--and to live from that place of intelligent kindness in the face of life's difficulties.

Compassion is the urge to understand and alleviate the suffering of another being. And if that being happens to be you, then the technique called self-compassion can be the greatest of blessings—for the compassion you learn to apply to yourself naturally extends to all the other people in your life. With the nine simple mindfulness practices she presents here, Radhule Weininger provides a step-by-step course in self-compassion. Using stories drawn from her own life and those of others she shows that, with the right intention and practice, we can all deepen our capacity to respond skillfully to our own suffering and thus to that of others and our world.

RADHULE WEININGER, MD, PhD, is a clinical psychologist who first trained as a medical doctor in Germany before migrating to the US more than thirty years ago. She has a clinical practice in Santa Barbara and runs a yearly program at the La Casa de Marie Retreat Centre. She encountered Buddhism in Sri Lanka as a young medical student. Jack Kornfield and Allan Wallace are her mentors. She teaches meditation retreats both in the US and internationally.