Compassion Cultivation Training Courses
I regularly offer free 90-minute introductions or workshops about Compassion Cultivation Training. Watch this space for announcements. These sessions are a wonderful way to learn more about meditation, compassion, and the Stanford-designed CCT curriculum.
Introductory sessions involve no commitment and are a good way of getting to know me and my teaching style. Feel free to add your name to my mailing list if you’d like to receive a monthly email about upcoming offerings, including the full 8-week CCT course.
Next CCT course
I’ll be offering my next 8-week CCT course on Zoom 8 Monday evenings (US East Coast time) from 6:30-8:30 pm ET, beginning on Ocotber 28, 2024. Classes will meet on October 28, November 4, 11, 18, 25, and December 2, 9, and 16. To read more about the course or register, go to my Eventbrite page here.
About CCT Classes
Each class builds upon the previous week’s theme, but if you have to miss one of the eight classes, that’s okay. Life happens! Classes are not recorded for privacy reasons but after each week’s class I send out an email with additional learning resources, including the slides used in class.
Each week includes:
In-class guided meditations and online recordings for use at home
Group discussions and in-class exercises relevant to each week’s theme
Optional readings, videos, and practices for outside the classroom to enhance learning and support a daily meditation and compassion practice
What Is Compassion, and Why Do We Need to Cultivate It?
In this course, you’ll learn about the difference between compassion and empathy. You’ll also discover how compassion, for yourself and others, can help prevent burnout, build resilience, and increase happiness and your sense of connection with others.
Each of us is born with the capacity for compassion. It’s the seed within that has allowed the human species to evolve and flourish. Most scientists now agree that Darwin’s theories support “survival of the kindest,” not survival of the fittest!
Our instinct to care is what has allowed us to adapt to changing, even challenging circumstances, and thrive. However, the seed of compassion, like any seed, needs tending. We have to cultivate compassion because there are many forces in society that mitigate against it taking root and growing tall.
Meditation can help us nourish the soil and water the seedling. Similarly, learning to practice compassion in our day-to-day life is an exercise we can do that’s good for those we interact with, but also good for ourselves—like training at the gym. And just as there is sports science, there is compassion science!
Read more about the Compassion Institute and CCT.
Optional Reading
During the course, I will provide links to videos, podcasts, suggested readings, and share poems. If you are interested in learning more about CCT or wish to prepare for the course, I highly recommend reading A Fearless Heart: How the Courage to Be Compassionate Can Transform Our Lives by Thupten Jinpa, lead creator of the CCT curriculum.
**Please note that while the tuition is set by the Compassion Institute ($325 Early Bird, $395 Regular Tuition), I can usually offer scholarships or tuition reductions for people who want to take the course but find the cost a barrier. I invite you to use the contact form or email me directly so that we can discuss a tuition that is comfortable for you. I want these practices to be accessible to all who are truly interested in learning about them.
