workshops & Retreats
Self-Compassion for Shame
An 8-week deepening course for graduates of Mindful Self-Compassion
Shame is rarely just personal. It's shaped by what we've been taught to believe about our worth by family, by culture, and by systems that decide whose bodies, identities, and stories are treated as acceptable and whose are not. Shame shows up when we're judged by others and when we judge ourselves; when we've done something wrong, and just as often when we've done nothing wrong at all. Of all our emotions, it may be the one that works hardest to keep us small, silent, and disconnected from ourselves, from each other, and from the collective work of healing.
This course doesn't try to fix shame or push it away, and it doesn't treat shame as only an individual problem to solve in isolation. It offers something different: a way to meet shame with the same steady, compassionate attention we'd offer someone we love so that instead of shutting down, attacking ourselves, or disappearing, we can stay present, think clearly, and reconnect to what actually matters. This is healing work, and it is also collective work: as we learn to meet our own shame with compassion, we build the capacity to show up more fully for each other and for the communities we're part of.
About the Course
Self-compassion is one of the most effective antidotes we have to shame and when shame is understood as something shaped by systems of oppression as much as by personal history, self-compassion becomes part of a larger practice of liberation. This course holds shame through that dual lens: as a deeply human experience to be understood and gently released, and as something inseparable from the social and historical conditions that produce it.
Together, we'll explore the research behind shame and self-compassion, and create space for each person to examine the personal, cultural, and systemic roots of their own shame within a container of compassion rather than judgment, and always with an eye toward collective healing, not just individual coping.
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This course is a deepening course, not an introductory one. To register, participants must meet one of the following:
Have completed an 8-week or 10-week Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) course, or the 5-Day Intensive MSC course
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Have a daily mindfulness and compassion practice.
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By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
Describe the research connecting shame and self-compassion
Understand self-compassion as an antidote to shame and as a practice of liberation, not just individual coping
Recognize the personal, cultural, and systemic roots of their own shame
Use self-compassion practices to work with body shame
Bring compassion to hidden or exiled parts of themselves
Reduce habitual self-criticism
Carry these practices into daily life and into their work in communities and organizations, beyond the course itself
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Self-criticism
Body shame
Self-forgiveness
Shame, oppression, and social justice and how systems of racism, colonialism, and patriarchy shape what we feel shame about, and how healing this individually connects to healing collectively
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8 weekly Tuesday sessions, 2.5 hours each - talks, practices, meditation, and group discussion. (a total of 20 hours of class plus 2 optional practice groups
Weekly practice groups to deepen the material in community between sessions
To make the most out of the course, participants are strongly encouraged to practice for at least 30 minutes per day the practices learned in classes each week.
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Tuesdays, October 6 – December 1, 2026 (no class November 3)
Sessions: October 6, 13, 20, 27 · November 10, 17, 24 · December 1
Time: 3:00 – 5:30 PM PST / 6:00 – 8:30 PM EST
Where: Online via Zoom
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Carolina Bautista-Velez
Carolina believes in a world where healing and liberation are human rights, not privileges. She creates spaces where individuals, groups, and organizations can learn, reclaim, experience, and apply tools that support healing, mindfulness, collectivism, compassion, and liberation.
Drawing on her own journey and lived experience, Carolina blends justice, healing, and mindfulness to design transformative experiences that cultivate growth, connection, and resilience. Her work supports the dismantling of systems of oppression at the individual, collective, and institutional level, helping communities and leaders embody meaningful change.
Born in Cali, Colombia, and having migrated to the United States at 22, Carolina is a Latinx immigrant and social change practitioner who has spent her life weaving together social justice and healing practices. For more than two decades, she has worked across domestic and sexual violence prevention, human trafficking response, refugee resettlement, community organizing, coalition building, language justice, DEIB, trauma-informed care, healing justice, mental health, and mindfulness.
Carolina is a mindfulness teacher, speaker, consultant, and mentor whose work lives at the intersection of healing and justice, helping cultivate compassion, resilience, and the capacity to move toward more just and liberated communities.
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This SC- Shame course is offered on a sliding scale of $200–$400, with $400 reflecting the true cost of the program.
This pricing structure is part of a commitment to accessibility, economic justice, and collective care. Participants with greater access to financial resources—including stable income, savings, or generational wealth—are encouraged to contribute at the higher end. This helps redistribute resources and expand access to those navigating financial limitations or systemic barriers.
If you are impacted by financial stress, instability, or inequitable access to resources, you are warmly invited to select a lower rate.
A limited number of additional scholarship spots are available for those who would not otherwise be able to participate, even at the lowest end of the scale. If this applies to you, you are welcome to reach out for more information.
You are not required to explain or justify your choice. This process is grounded in trust, dignity, and respect for each person’s lived experience.
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Step 1 - Complete the Form
Complete the intake form here.
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Step 2 - Complete Payment
Payment details are found on the registration form. Sliding scale available from $200-400.
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Step 3 - Join Us
Join in on the 8 weekly calls, receiving guidance, tools and home practices for your journey.
Courses
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An 8-week program developed by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, combining mindfulness meditation, gentle movement, and guided practice to help you navigate stress, anxiety, and chronic pain. Through weekly sessions and daily home practice, you'll build a personal mindfulness practice that supports greater calm, resilience, and connection to your own life.
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An 8-week program developed by Dr. Kristin Neff and Dr. Christopher Germer, teaching you to meet yourself with the same kindness and support you'd offer a good friend. Through mindfulness and self-compassion practices, you'll learn to reduce self-criticism, build emotional resilience, and cultivate a more compassionate relationship with yourself.
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An 8-week deepening course for MSC graduates, exploring shame through the lens of self-compassion and healing justice. You'll examine the personal, cultural, and systemic roots of shame, and practice meeting it with compassion rather than self-attack, connecting individual healing to a broader commitment to collective liberation.
Seeds for collaboration
The titles below represent past gatherings Carolina has facilitated for community spaces and Organizations. Use them as a starting point or inspiration for what we can co-create together for your team.
Beyond Trauma Informed Services: Creating Healing Centered Practices
Understanding Vicarious Trauma & Compassion Fatigue
Pause, Breath and Continue: Mindfulness Skills for Advocates
Compassionate Boundaries: Caring for You While Caring for Others
Leading Beyond Burnout: Building a Culture of Care, Boundaries, and Co-Responsibility
Bridging the Gap: Mindfulness and Healing Justice
Mindfulness and Self Compassion in the Workplace
Introduction to Mindfulness
Tending To The Wounds Caused By Microaggressions
Tools for individual and Collective Wellbeing
Frameworks for Group facilitation: Healing Justice, Popular Education & Mindfulness
Mental Health First Aid
Turning Towards Each Other: Conflict Transformation
Helping the Helper: Understanding Vicarious Trauma, Compassion Fatigue and Resilience
Developing Resilient Relationships:
What is Resilience
Mindfulness and Self Compassion
Gratitude and Appreciation
Remembering the Big Picture