Deepening Compassion with Equanimity - Episode 8 - Season 2

We explore deepening compassion with a special focus on the quality of equanimity as Kate joins in conversation with Frits Koster, renowned meditation teacher, author and course co-developer of the Mindfulness-Based Compassionate Living course for this episode of the Realise Mindfulness podcast. Frits begins by sharing his fascinating journey to mindful compassion and talks about his time as a Buddhist monk and his experiences in Psychiatric healthcare. Acknowledging how challenging many of us find it to shine the light of kindness and compassion inwards, we explore the idea of the Four Friends for Life as a way to support us with this. We go on to make a deeper exploration of equanimity – an often-misunderstood quality - which can help us find balance in the midst of the changing weather of life. To help us gently experientially explore this quality of equanimity, we end the episode with a beautiful Horse Whisperer practice, guided by Frits. About Mindfulness-Based Compassionate Living  Compassion can be described as an awareness of pain and suffering -ours and others- coupled with a motivation to take action to alleviate it. Mindfulness-Based Compassionate Living (MBCL) is a science backed course designed to enhance our physical, emotional and relational well-being though deepening meditation practice, growing self-compassion, and learning ways to balance kindness and compassion for others with care for ourselves. The course was developed in 2007 by Dutch Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist Dr Erik van den Brink and Meditation Teacher, MBSR Teacher and Trainer and Psychiatric Nurse Frits Koster as a follow-on to foundational mindfulness programs. If you would like to read more about MBCL you can find out more at my website or the links below. About your Host Kate is a qualified BAMBA registered mindfulness teacher offering over 25 years of coaching expertise. She has trained with Erik van den Brink and Frits Koster, the developers of MBCL. Having experienced the transformative power of mindful compassion in her own life, she is passionate about sharing that with others in a way that is accessible, professional and infused with her own unique brand of gentle kindness. About Frits Koster Frits Koster lived as a Buddhist monk in South-East Asia for six years. He is a qualified MBSR, and IMP teacher and teaches meditation retreats internationally. With Erik van den Brink, he developed the MBCL course. He is the (co-)author of various books (Silkworm Books and Routledge). See www.fritskoster.com. You can follow Realise on: https://www.realisemindfulness.com/ https://www.facebook.com/realisemindfulness https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-ensor-a4b4a62a/ https://www.instagram.com/realisemindfulness/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiUm0kgeEX-uU6_PPTc2Zaw Find out more about MBCL: https://fritskoster.com/ (Frits Koster) www.mbcl.org (Erik van den Brink)www.mbcl-international international.net (MBCL International) You can buy the MBCL course Workbook from the publisher Routledge and all good booksellers: https://www.routledge.com/A-Practical-Guide-to-Mindfulness-Based-Compassionate-Living-Living-with/Brink-Koster-Norton/p/book/9781138228931 A quick disclaimer: This podcast is intended as an ongoing support resource to anyone who has attended a foundational mindfulness course such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction or Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and is interested in deepening their practice in mindful compassion. The MBCL course is rich and deep & this podcast is in no way a replacement for attending an 8-week course. Rather, it is intended as either an introduction, a companion or a refresher for the course. If you are interested in finding out more, or working with me one-to-one, you can find some helpful links above. And remember any information you hear on this podcast & my media sites is for information purposes only and should never be a substitute for advice from a doctor/psychiatrist or any other health professional.