a compassionate approach: gentle steps for hard times

In difficult times, we tend to become self-critical and rigid in our thinking. While this response might have been of benefit to our ancestors, today it only serves to add insult to injury. This belief that we need to be hard on ourselves in order to stay motivated and vigilant, may feel like the most effective approach, but the latest research says otherwise. The picture that is emerging seems to confirm what the wisdom traditions of the east have known for over a thousand years - compassion is the solution for all that ails us. Not only does a self-compassionate approach increase our motivation to keep going when things are hard, but it also makes us more resilient as we face life’s challenges.

A Compassionate Approach is not a historical or academic narrative, but rather a journey inward. Into the depths of being.  Through the use of metaphor and related experience, Tim Van Orden - an elite athlete turned professional coach, speaker, and writer - shares the practices and processes that allow him to engage powerfully in life, no matter what.  A Compassionate Approach is a navigational aid, written with the intention of helping us explore the uncertain waters of this thing that we call “life.”  The ultimate goal, Tim asserts, is not to help the self, but instead to better understand it, to come to terms with it, and to more effectively utilize it… one gentle - and compassionate - step at a time.