MAKING FRIENDS WITH YOURSELF (MFY)
MINDFUL SELF-COMPASSION YOUTH COURSE

Making Friends with Yourself: (MFY)
A Mindful Self-Compassion Program for Teens & Young Adults
Adolescence is a time of change, growth and all too often, struggle. This course is designed to help teens cope more effectively with the ongoing challenges of their day-to-day life. It brings together the benefits of mindfulness and self-compassion:
Stress Management teaches us to turn off the stress system and manage anxiety/depression
Mindfulness teaches us to manage difficult emotions, and thoughts
Self-Compassion helps us to respond to these emotions with greater kindness and self-care.
Through developmentally appropriate activities and meditations, teens learn specific tools which help them navigate the emotional ups and downs of this life stage with greater ease.
Being a teen is hard. During the teen years, the body is rapidly changing and so are emotions and relationships. Teens are faced with intense situations such as heartbreak, anxiety, low self-esteem and peer pressure, exposure to drugs and alcohol and bullying.
We offer a solution of a different type. Equip your teen with tools they need to have a compassionate relationship with themselves.

MISCONCEPTIONS OF MSC are that it may be selfish, weak, full of self-pity.
The research demonstrates SELF-COMPASSION
- Increases our compassion for others, self-compassion, mindfulness
- Decreases depression, anxiety, stress, and emotional avoidance
- Increases social connectedness, life satisfaction, and happiness
- All gains in wellbeing maintained one year later
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SELF-ESTEEM AND SELF COMPASSION
- Esteem is defined as a global evaluation of self worth-judging oneself as a good person or a bad person
- It’s based on comparisons with others (feeling special or above average) and tends to be a contingent for success
- SELF-COMPASSION does not entail evaluations of good or bad, but simply involves relating to ourselves kindly, especially when we fail or notice short comings
- It is always available, it does not desert us when we fail and it fosters feelings of connectedness rather than social comparison
MFY FACILITATORS
Sue Crowley-Currie BPHE, B.Ed, OCT, MISP, .b Certified
Yoga Teacher, Certified Mindfulness Teacher of the .b program for youth, Mindful Self Compassion Teacher for Youth and young Adults
Sue Crowley-Currie comes to us with 25 years of Teaching experience at the Secondary School level in a variety of roles, including instructing a course in Yoga and Mindfulness for Teens.
Tanya Armstrong RDH, R-YNC
Mindful Movement Yoga Teacher, Mindfulness Facilitator, Mindful Self- Compassion Trained Teacher, Mindful Self Compassion Teacher for Youth and Young Adults and ISMP Program Co-ordinator and Co-Founder
Tanya is co-founder of ISMP and teaches mindfulness- based stress management practices and mindful self compassion to public groups, teachers and social workers including; CMHA, YSSN, and SCETF.

