Ring in the New Year and ring out self-centeredness virtually at the Asian Art Museum this Thursday! Hi all, I'm offering a Short Course in Mindful Self-Compassion beginning January 13th. It's six weeks, one hour per week, and would be a nice boost to your year. Self-Compassion builds resilience and prevents burnout, among other qualities. 2 dozen participants benefited from my full workshop in the fall, but not everyone has the time to do the full course - so I'm offering this. It would be great if you could dist ...Continue Reading

Hi all, I'm just about to finish teaching my 8 week Mindful Self Compassion workshop. I modified the Center for MSC's program for the BIPOC community, and over 20 participants engaged and learned self compassion techniques. I'm very passionate about MSC, and am a member of the steering committee for the Self Compassion in Psychotherapy certificate program starting up next March. I offered this course for free or by donation, because there are many people who can't afford the going rate of $400-600. While I applied ...Continue Reading

Hi all, I've been fortunate to be teaching my Mindful Self Compassion course since the end of September. Cultivating community and self-care at this time of stress and transformation has been really great. Here are some of the resources I've used so far - hopefully they will help you too! 1. Langston Hughes epic grand visionary poem “Let America Be America Again” in words and as a YouTube Video 2. Gwendolyn Brooks on vulnerability and the need for big poems and big ideas. 3. Again, Langsto ...Continue Reading

The Tarot Card of Death signifies change and transformation. This is from the Asian American Literary Review's "Open in Case of Emergency" tarot deck and box set, available at https://www.aalrmag.org It certainly feels like the world has turned towards the wheelhouse of medicine, public health and psychiatry during COVID-19 and the more visible surfacing of racial trauma since March, 2020. I’ve been using the time to be with my feelings, and also helping others with their feelings, thoughts, hopes a ...Continue Reading

Check out: Memoirs of a Superfan Vol. 15.2: Lama Rod Owens and the Emotional Body of Asian Americans Lama Rod Owens is "a self-described “Black, queer, cisgender, and male-identified, fat, mixed-class, Buddhist teacher and minister, yoga teacher, and shit-talking Southerner.'" Dear all, So much of the news cycle is the same old same old. I'm putting myself in the growth zone with my writing. I hope my new blog series helps put you in a growth zone as well. Written at the intersection of Black and ...Continue Reading

Adobe stock image of Asian woman with mask, licensed by Ravi Chandra Dear all, Thank you for staying connected, and I hope this message finds you well. My creative work as a writer is coming together more fruitfully with my work as a psychiatrist, compassion educator and concerned citizen. Also, I'm trying to stay really basic. My favorite line in Ozu's film The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice comes from a husband who says to his wife, our relationship should be like ochazuke: "intimate, familiar, pri ...Continue Reading

Harlem, by Langston Hughes, at The Poetry Foundation My blog post on this poem and this moment:  A Dream Deferred: Langston Hughes, Then and Now | Psychology Today I wish I could share a meal with all of you; find out how you're doing in the midst of all our crises. I hope this message finds you and your loved ones and friends in good health. May you be safe and well. All my friends and loved ones are well, thankfully - but so much is not right with the world. I hope these writings, videos and podcasts will be hel ...Continue Reading

Keep your Zen folks! Hi all, I'm offering more Contagious Compassion Zoom Sessions! Please share with your networks. Over 40 people participated last round. Details below. Saturdays, April 11, 25 and May 9  4 - 5:30 pm PDT Free tickets at Eventbrite Blogs and Videos COVID19: From Uncertainty and Vulnerability to Compassion  - A summary of the first Contagious Compassion Zoom Session, including my 10 minute video that has the honor of having my highest retention rate of any video so far :)  Contagious Com ...Continue Reading

Hello all, I hope this note finds you and yours healthy, well and safe, as we practice shelter-in-place and social distancing. More information on the crisis in the links below. I'm hosting a Zoom group session next Saturday, March 28, 2020 from 4-5:30 pm PDT. You can register for this free event at Eventbrite. Please share with your networks. SF Love Dojo: Contagious Compassion Zoom Session In this time of COVID19 crisis, with attendant anxiety, stress, uncertainty, and isolation, we need ways to connect, heal and gro ...Continue Reading

Updates on local TV between 6 and 6:30 pm (!!!) this Wednesday, March 11. Note that SF has now banned events of >100 people. Hi all, I apologize for another ping in your inbox - but alarm bells have been going off. Schools, colleges, museums and libraries in San Francisco are closed, the SFFILM Festival has been cancelled - all towards social distancing and flattening the curve of this pandemic. I am crossing my fingers that testing gets up to speed quickly, on the medical front. But until then, it's ...Continue Reading