Cognitively-Based Compassion Training

Are you a compassionate person?
How do you know you are?
Are you aware of how you behave when you’re feeling compassion?
Are those behaviors interpreted the way you want them to be by others?

How can we strengthen our compassion for self and others, even others who may be adversaries?

Compassion includes at least two key components: recognition of suffering and a motivation to help. This requires we have affection for others and an awareness of their distress. We desire that someone be free from suffering. Our compassion has an affective or feeling component and a cognitive component that includes the awareness of others’ difficulties.

Research with CBCT shows that compassion can improve our affect, alleviate stress, decrease depression, and increase self-acceptance. Biologically, compassion is linked to lower cortisol levels and reduced inflammation processes in the body. It has helped cancer patients experience less fear and more hope.

About the teacher: Miles brings a decade of intensive study (over 10,000 hours) in a range of mind-body disciplines to bear on his work as a meditation teacher and therapist. He leads meditation retreats and programs, coaches individuals one-on-one, is a core member of a team building a meditation app (Madrona Meditation), and is the co-founder of Dharma Gates (a non-profit that connects young people to meditation practice). Much of his training was with Buddhist teachers including two years of solitary retreat (under the guidance of B. Alan Wallace, Ph.D. and Roshi Joan Halifax, Ph.D.), and three years at various monasteries and practice centers in the United States and Asia. Miles also completed a 1,600 hour Am.SAT Alexander Technique teacher training and is certified to teach Emory’s Cognitively Based Compassion Training course (CBCT), and Stanford’s Compassion Cultivation Training course (CCT). Miles earned a Master’s of Applied Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Social Work at Columbia University. His work sits at the intersection of meditation, trauma, Buddhism, psychedelics, and positive psychology.

We are asking for a donation of $250 for this course. Usually CBCT is more expensive, and Miles has generously offered it to us at reduced cost. The donation will be shared by Miles and Buddhism & Mindfulness at All Souls. That said, no-one will be turned away due to lack of funds. Your motivation to do the course is what matters most. Class size is limited. To register, email Rebecca Izuchokwu at [email protected].