By Mary Marcdante, Director of Communications, CMSC
Organizing CMSC's Midyear Renewal Retreat was both humbling and inspiring. Our team planned for months to coordinate the sessions, speakers, communications, and opportunities for you to connect. And what ultimately brought the retreat to life was our community.
More than 5,000 people from 101 countries registered to attend or receive the replay. That means self-compassion touched more than half the 195 countries in the world! And that was possible because of all of you! Thank you.”
We came together to share an exploration of belonging— one of the central truths of Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC): that reminds us we are not alone in our struggles, our hopes, or our capacity to learn and grow.
For me, belonging reflects one of the central truths of Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC): our experiences may be deeply personal, but we do not have to carry our struggles, hopes, or desire to learn and grow alone.
Together, with the guidance of CMSC’s co-founders Chris and Kristin, and six experienced MSC Teachers—all who volunteered their time—we explored what it means to belong, not by striving to be different or better, but by learning to meet ourselves with more kindness, greater trust and deeper connection.
One of the greatest strengths of MSC is that it unites personal transformation with collective well-being. Self-compassion is not something we practice only for ourselves. As we learn to respond to our own pain with care rather than criticism, we become better equipped to support our families, workplaces, communities, and the wider world.
What will stay with me most strongly is the magic that happens when our community gathers to practice together. In a world that can often feel divided or isolating, coming together in compassion reminds us of our shared humanity. Whether participants joined for a single session or immersed themselves in the entire retreat, each person contributed to a collective experience of belonging that extended far beyond the screen. Even the chat was filled with gratitude, joy, and love. Imagine every person on the planet being able to experience that!
The retreat may have ended, but the community, connection, and compassion that came alive through our experience together continues.
The question for all of us now is: What will stay with you—and how will you carry self-compassion forward?
One way to carry it forward is with a donation to our Midyear Fundraising Campaign. Everyone who contributes $25 or more by August 12 will receive one year of ad-free access to the complete retreat replay in the CMSC Learning Platform as a thank-you—and provide a replay scholarship to one of the 880 members of our community who requested financial assistance.
Donate $250 by August 12 and receive two workshops valued at $290 as our thank-you—a savings of $40. This donation level includes Chris Germer's "From Self-Criticism to Self-Compassion 3-Hour Workshop on September 9, and our Masterclass
"The Courage to Care: Compassion for Ourselves and Our World" on October 10, with best-selling author Rick Hanson, Jonathan Walker, MD, and Lisa Baylis, MA.
Please donate today to help carry self-compassion forward.
