The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook by Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer

The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook: A Proven Way to Accept Yourself, Build Inner Strength, and Thrive by Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer is an interesting and inspiring workbook that reiterates that self-compassion is a way of life not a goal to be met. Neff and Germer gently remind the reader that to be self-compassionate is to constantly notice where one needs self-compassion many times in the book. The exercises in this workbook pushed me to think about events in my life and accept my feelings about those events with compassion instead of judgment but also to approach my judgment with compassion. As I worked through the exercises, old issues I'd thought long resolved resurfaced and reminded me that suppressing isn't the same as dealing with things. Facing these with self-compassion rather than judgment was a helpful exercise. That said, I also found it hard to relate to some of the exercises and felt like I just worked through them without much depth because they felt settled for me. While The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook is in some ways a self-help book, in other ways it feels more like an anti-self-help book.



Check back soon for my thoughts on other books I'm reading including:


Write for Life: Creative Tools for Every Writer by Julia Cameron
Above the River: The Complete Poems by James Wright
The Gift of Shadows by Stephanie Stamm
Cocaine: An Unauthorized Biography by Dominic Streatfeild



Reviews will be posted as I finish these books.


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