Unlocking Self-Compassion in Sport

About the Course

This course has been designed for athletes, parents of athletes and coaches to learn, experience and start to apply self-compassion, enhance wellbeing and motivation within sport. It is based on the 8-week Mindful Self-Compassion course created by Kriten Neff (PhD) and Christopher Germer (PhD) with permission.

What is Self-Compassion?

Dr Kristin Neff refers to self compassion as having three components –

1. Self-kindness – being gentle and understanding with ourselves rather than harshly critical and judgmental.  
2. Common humanity – feeling connected with others in the experience of life rather than feeling isolated and alienated by our suffering (i.e. experiencing our imperfections). 
3. Mindfulness – that we hold our experience in balanced awareness, rather than ignoring our pain and exaggerating it.

Research has found self-criticism to be negatively associated with motivation and progress towards goals. It has been reported that athletes have given up their sport due to the self-criticism.

Why Self-Compassion in Sport?

After reading the above definition, could you see how self-compassion could be useful within sport? Also – some of the research in relation to self-compassion interventions within sports have succeeded in reducing self-criticism and negative thoughts following  mistakes in athletes. When a number of female athletes were interviewed about how self-compassion could help them in their sporting lives, they identified a variety of potential areas including –

• Failing to meet personal goals and expectations or making mistakes within their sport,
• Working through injuries and focusing on what they can do to recover,
• Managing a performance or training plateau,
• Stepping back and looking at situations in a positive light (i.e. seeing the silver lining),
• Helping you reach your full potential,
• Persisting and concentrating on what you can do (not what you can’t),
• Taking responsibility for difficult sporting experiences, and
• Keeping a balanced perspective and allowing yourself to move on.

Course Outcomes

The outcomes for this courses are –

• Increasing knowledge and understanding of the science of self-compassion,
• Starting to untangle from judgement and other negative thought patterns with self-kindness,
• Learning and practising informal and formal techniques to reduce fatigue and / or burnout,
• Starting to utilise self-compassion as a source of motivation,
• Increasing resilience and resourcefulness for life’s challenges,
• Applying resilience-based strategies for dealing with difficult emotions, and
• Integrating core self-compassion practises in to daily life.

Register for Upcoming Courses

PM Course: Thursday October 8 – November 12, 2020 (7.30pm-8.30pm QLD AEST): Click here to register.

Further courses will be added soon. Please contact Jane to register your interest.

Course Details

Course Cost – Introductory Price of $195 (AUD). Click here to convert to your currency.

Inclusions – as a participant in the course, you will receive access to a number of resources, including –

Who Is this Course For?

This course has been designed for athletes and people working with athletes (i.e. coaches). There is no prerequisite or prior experience required for this course. This course is open to both beginners and those with significant mindfulness experience.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

Scroll to the bottom of the page to see the FAQ’s.

This week we will look at the theory, research and definitions of self-compassion as well as the misgivings.

Week 2 we will introduce the paradox of self-compassion, mindfulness in daily and practises of self-compassion.

In week 3, we will look at self-criticism and safety as well as ways to motivate ourselves with self-compassion.

Week 4 we will look at the different stages of progress in self-compassion, ways to work with difficult emotions and build resilience.

In week 5, we will look at the topic of burnout as well as how to practise compassion with equanimity.

This week we will wrap up the course by looking at gratitude, core values, savouring as well as ways to continue to practise.

Jane Taylor (M.EdSt) is a former Professional Athlete, Registered P-12 Teacher (since 2002) and ICF Coach who is committed to supporting people change the way they see themselves and helping by “(Un)Learning, so You Can Reconnect and Engage With Your Innate Potential and BE Whole-Heartedly YOU… One Habit at a Time!”, so we can connect with life authentically and live in peace and harmony. She is a Trained Teacher in Mindful Self-Compassion and has created this new training specifically for sportspeople over 18 and those working with athletes.

Jane has been lucky enough to work and support over 31500 adults in leadership, coaching, education, emotional intelligence, mindfulness meditation, self-compassion, mental health promotion and prevention and organisational wellbeing.