Why does it feel so natural to be compassionate and kind to those we care about - yet so hard to treat ourselves the same way? "Our culture teaches us to use self-criticism for motivation and to build self-esteem by constantly measuring ourselves against everyone else," says Dr. Kristin Neff. "We need to re-learn the essential skill of being genuinely nurturing and supportive toward ourselves."

Learn the science of self-compassion and mindfulness to heal and build resilience. 

In the face of a threatening or unjust situation, have you ever kept silent because you didn't want to rock the boat or make things worse? And then, did you wonder: "Next time, how can I become stronger and more effective?" That's the purpose of The Yin and Yang of Self-Compassion. Kristin Neff, PhD, created this inspiring audio program to help you understand and build the two complementary aspects of this crucial skill: the receptive Yin side self-compassion and the active Yang side self-compassion.

Over his decades of experience as a therapist and mindfulness meditation practitioner, Dr. Christopher Germer has learned a paradoxical lesson: We all want to avoid pain, but letting it in and responding compassionately to our own imperfections are essential steps on the path to healing. This wise and eloquent book illuminates the power of self-compassion and offers creative, scientifically grounded strategies for putting it into action.

Dr. Russ Harris provides a means to escape the epidemic of stress, anxiety, and depression, unlocking the secrets to a truly fulfilling life. Updated and expanded by 50 percent in its second edition, this empowering book presents the insights and techniques of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), covering more topics and providing more practical tools than ever before.

If you're looking for ways to optimize your client sessions, consider joining the many thousands of therapists and life coaches worldwide who are learning acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). With a focus on mindfulness, client values, and a commitment to change, ACT is proven-effective in treating depression, anxiety, stress, addictions, eating disorders, schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder (BPD), and myriad other psychological issues. It's also a revolutionary new way to view the human condition.

Striving for something can be a healthy and positive attribute; it's good to aim high. But sometimes whatever we do just isn't good enough; we want to be too perfect and start setting unrealistic goals. Such high levels of perfectionism, often driven by low self-esteem, can turn against success and develop into unhealthy obsession, triggering serious mental-health problems, such as anxiety, depression and eating disorders. 

Within your own heart is a limitless source of supreme energy, the energy of love. No other force in the universe compares to it. The world's great spiritual traditions, both past and present, agree on this simple principle. Can love be harnessed and applied to others, used as a "tool" for changing lives? Lovingkindness Meditation teaches a traditional practice for cultivating love, and applying it as a life-changing force.

If we live long enough, life will knock us around. Relationships will fail. Loved ones will die. Injury, illness and disease will all take their toll. Our suffering might seem unbearable at these times, but there is hope. The Reality Slap is a compassionate, wise and extremely practical guide to handling the anxiety, grief and suffering that inevitably follow such major life blows.

Alchemists sought to transform lead into gold. In the same way, says Tara Bennett-Goleman, we all have the natural ability to turn our moments of confusion and emotional pain into insightful clarity. Emotional Alchemy maps the mind and shows how, according to recent advances in cognitive therapy, most of what troubles us falls into ten basic emotional patterns, including fear of abandonment, social exclusion (the feeling we don't belong), and vulnerability (the feeling that some catastrophe will occur).

What does it take to be secure in our sense of belonging and self-worth? We may hustle to attain this security through achievements, meeting expectations, or repeating affirmations to ourselves - but Dr. Brené Brown's research has shown there is ultimately one obstacle to our sense of worthiness. “Shame is the barrier,” she teaches, “and building shame resilience is how we overcome it.”

Since Stephen Porges first proposed the Polyvagal Theory in 1994, its basic idea-that the level of safety we feel impacts our health and happiness-has radically shifted how researchers and clinicians approach trauma interventions and therapeutic interactions. Yet despite its wide acceptance, most of the writing on the topic has been obscured behind clinical texts and scientific jargon.

Stress. It is everywhere around us. Even worse, it gets inside us: Sapping our energy, undermining our health, and making us more vulnerable to anxiety, depression, and disease. Now, based on Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn’s renowned mindfulness-based stress reduction program, this groundbreaking audiobook shows you how to use natural, medically proven methods to soothe and heal your body, mind, and spirit. Full Catastrophe Living is an audiobook for the young and the old, the well, the ill, and anyone trying to live a healthier and saner life in today’s world.

In this culmination of his life’s work, Peter A. Levine draws on his broad experience as a clinician, a student of comparative brain research, a stress scientist and a keen observer of the naturalistic animal world to explain the nature and transformation of trauma in the body, brain and psyche. In an Unspoken Voice is based on the idea that trauma is neither a disease nor a disorder, but rather an injury caused by fright, helplessness and loss that can be healed by engaging our innate capacity to self-regulate high states of arousal and intense emotions.

Compassion for others begins by building a foundation of lovingkindness toward ourselves. Sharon Salzberg leads a meditation to help us recognize our own inner suffering with tenderness and awareness, opening us naturally to the ability to love others.