The Wellbeing Series

Since 2012, the University of Minnesota's Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing has hosted wellbeing thought-leaders to inspire and educate the community, organizations, and life-long learners through the Wellbeing Lecture Series.

Past speakers like Brené Brown, Atul Gawande, Dessa, Celeste Headlee, Rhonda Magee, and Jon Kabat-Zinn have explored a range of topics including purpose, vulnerability, food and wellbeing, gratitude, technology, and mindfulness, among others.

Discover more about your own wellbeing with us through the Wellbeing Series, an opportunity to engage, learn, and experience what wellbeing means to you.

For questions about the Wellbeing Series or to make disability-related accommodations, please contact the Bakken Center’s community relations and events office at [email protected] or 612-625-8164.

2025 Wellbeing Series

Self-Compassion: How to Effectively Motivate Yourself with Encouragement Rather Than Criticism with Dr. Kristin Neff

Thursday, September 25, 2025 • 12 to 1:30 p.m. Central
 
Kristin_Neff_University_of_Minnesota_Wellbeing_Series
Our first instinct when we fail, suffer, or feel inadequate may be to criticize or to judge ourselves—but there is a better way to get through life’s hardships, says Dr. Kristin Neff. A way that enables us to achieve our highest potential and lead more contented, fulfilling lives. And that’s through self-compassion.

Some people fear self-compassion is a form of self-pity, and obsessively chase high self-esteem instead—their self-worth fluctuating with every success and failure. But research shows us that people who are self-compassionate lead healthier, happier, more productive lives than those who are self-critical. These people also have the resilience needed to cope with traumatic or stressful life events such as divorce, parenting, or the pressures at work. 

In this talk, she walks audiences through practices designed to increase motivation, foster grit and growth mindset, and rebound from failure, all through the cultivation of self-compassion.

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe the three components of self-compassion.
2. Distinguish between self-criticism and self-compassion as motivators.
3. Apply self-compassion in motivational contexts.
 
About Dr. Kristin Neff:
 
Dr. Kristin Neff pioneered the research field of self-compassion over 20 years ago. Since then, she's become one of the most influential researchers in psychology worldwide and has written multiple bestselling books, including Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself, The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook, and her most recent Mindful Self-Compassion for Burnout. Dr. Neff is an associate professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and Harvard Business Review, among others, and her TEDx talk has been viewed over 1.7 million times. She’s also the co-developer of an empirically supported training program called Mindful Self-Compassion, which is taught by thousands of people worldwide, and co-founder of the nonprofit Center for Mindful Self-Compassion.
 
This webinar is approved by the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching (NBHWC) for 1.5 continuing education credits (CEA-000582-1).


Register for Kristin Neff's Lecture