What would it feel like…
Week 1
Discovering Mindful Self-Compassion
Introduction & Community Agreements
What is Mindful Self-Compassion?
to embody the full spectrum of your humanness?
These are some of the questions we explore in Embracing Your Life, a 6-week online self-compassion course for young adults finding their place in a complex world.
To move towards what is important to you amidst global crises?
To appreciate the beauty of who you are beyond flimsy, surface-level definitions of success?
To acknowledge your anger, grief, and feelings of inadequacy with a tender gaze?
To access inner support in the face of inevitable hardships?
To treat yourself with the same affection you would treat a small animal or friend?
To answer your spirit’s deepest calling?
Embracing Your Life started as a research project alongside my colleague, Dr. Karen Bluth, that observed the impacts of mindfulness & self-compassion in young adults. Inspired by the positive results, we turned the research project into a course originally offered through the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion.
Following various iterations and hopeful feedback from students, we began training other professionals to facilitate the program. By disseminating this work, we hope to empower adults of all ages to bravely emerge and persevere in a messy, beautiful world.
Offering Community Support:
$175
Not sure which tier to choose?
Refer to the Green Bottle Model, as designed by Alexis J. Cunningfolk.
Still concerned about the financial barrier to entry?
Please reach out directly. We believe that everyone deserves access to these vital tools for wellbeing, regardless of their socio-economic background. For this reason, no one will be turned away due to a lack of funds. Creating spaces that function beyond class lines is one way we dismantle oppressive systems and practice collective care.
(It’s also compassion in action.)
The relationship we have with ourselves is at the root of collective evolution and social change.
The Curriculum:
Week 2
Paying Attention with Kindness
Practices for the Wandering Mind
Finding Kindness for Yourself & Others
Week 3
Supporting Yourself with Compassion
Navigating Doubts, Self-Criticism & Safety
Compassionate Body Scan
Week 4
The Cost of Social Comparison
Social Media’s Effects on Self-Compassion
Practices for Anger & Unmet Needs
Week 5
Living Deeply
Core Values & Intention Setting
Giving, Receiving, & Boundaries
Meet Your Facilitators:
Week 6
Embracing Your Life
Gratitude & Cultivating Happiness
Maintaining Your Practice
Marissa C. Knox, PhD
Teacher | Facilitator | Lifelong Student of Nature
For over a decade, I have taught mindfulness and compassion through various programs for young adults, healthcare professionals, parents, and anyone looking to reduce stress and burnout. After studying self-compassion at UT Austin with Kristin Neff, I received my PhD in Educational Psychology in 2020. Since then, I’ve taught thousands of college students at UT Austin and at Purdue University, where I currently teach as a Clinical Assistant Professor. When I don’t have my teacher hat on, I practice playing the piano and go on walks with my camera to document the endless poetry of the natural world.
Karen Bluth, PhD
Professor | Facilitator | Author
As a recently retired professor from the University of North Carolina, I am currently teaching courses at Assumption University in Massachusetts. I consider my meditation practice one of the biggest anchors in my life, helping me navigate all sorts of challenges that life throws at me. Over the last decade, I’ve created self-compassion programs for teens and young adults, written several books on self-compassion for teens, and trained teachers all over the world to facilitate these programs. I’m immensely grateful to live on the marsh in eastern North Carolina, where I’m immersed in nature—it reminds me to feel grateful every day.
The Investment:
Receiving Community Support:
$175
Standard Rate:
$250
6 x weekly 90-minute sessions
Group discussions on self-compassion theory & practice
Guided meditations
Journal prompts & intention setting
Group exercises
About the course:
What's inside:
Love notes from Embrace Your Life participants:
“Since the class, I often remind myself to take some time for daily self-care. I have a much better connection to my inner critic, which means: I recognize that it wants to help and support me, I'm grateful for that and then I connect myself with the compassion part inside myself. What really was inspiring during the course (and what I really miss now) is the connection to the group and all the inputs which came up during our talks and lessons.”
“I love and truly appreciate that this class has taught me so much about being kind to myself and others. I would recommend this class to everyone if I could, and I personally think it should be required for everyone to take a course like this at university or before entering the workforce because it teaches you how to manage your personal needs, balance your time, and be a positive contributor to your interactions.”
What to Expect:
As an Embracing Your Life participant, you may…
Feel a deeper sense of connection to yourself and your unique path
Find a rhythm that’s sustainable and decoupled from capitalist urgency
Approach challenging circumstances and events through a lens of possibility
Redefine success according to your values
Feel brave enough to pivot into your next iteration
Know that you are enough, exactly as you are today
Upcoming Cohorts:
March 2026- April 2026
Learn to cope, change & evolve, no matter how upside down reality feels.
Join thousands of students who have benefited from cultivating a personal practice of mindfulness and radical self-compassion.
Interested in becoming an Embrace Your Life Facilitator?
Do you want to offer the internationally acclaimed self-compassion course to your community? Contact us to organize an EYL facilitator training program.
Reserve your spot in our upcoming facilitator training
January 14, 21, and 18, 8 a.m. - 10 a.m. ET.
Coming soon...
This Is a Lot: A Twenty-Something’s Guide to Self-Compassion In an Overwhelming World
Are you struggling to contemplate and take action toward the next phase of your life? Do you juggle feelings of inadequacy with overwhelm for everything that’s going on in the world? If you constantly find yourself thinking, “this is a lot”, you’re right—it is.
Inspired by the insights, experiences, and outcomes of facilitating years of Embrace Your Life cohorts, This Is A Lot is a compassionate letter of acknowledgement and guidance by co-authors and co-facilitators Marissa C. Knox and Karen Bluth. Their forthcoming book offers solace to adults navigating college, the transition into adulthood, and beyond.