Résumé
Self-compassion is the lived expression of mindfulness, common humanity, and kindness when facing adversity and struggle (Neff, 2003b), yet experiencing self-compassion is rarely emphasized in its instruction. Building on our prior feasibility findings suggesting embodied pedagogy—learning through physical experience—may support the development of self-compassion, this study piloted a refined intervention within a movement-based undergraduate course. Over three weeks, 37 students (Mage= 20.31; SD= 5.45) engaged in a 50-minute psychoeducation session, three 15-minute movement sessions, and a 50-minute group reflection. Repeated measures ANOVAs revealed significant improvements, with most gains maintained at 4-week follow-up, in self-compassion (pre: M= 2.83, SD= 0.59; post: M= 3.46, SD= 0.58; follow-up: M= 3.23, SD= 0.65), F(2, 38)= 8.17, p< .001), flourishing (pre: M= 46.70, SD= 4.32; post: M= 50.50, SD= 2.04; follow-up: M= 48.15, SD= 4.88), F(2, 38)= 19.09, p< .001), and compassionate engagement and action (pre: M= 13.55, SD= 0.74; post: M= 15.5, SD= 0.56; follow-up: M= 15.27, SD= 0.60), F(2, 38)= 7.77, p< .001). Additionally, three themes reflecting students’ experiences of the intervention were generated through reflexive thematic analysis: (1) Balanced Awareness—increased attunement to bodily discomfort; (2) Compassionate Motivation—a shift from performance pressure to supportive self-talk; and (3) Whole-Person Integration—movement, emotion, and reflection fostered a felt understanding of self-compassion. These findings suggest that movement-based learning may be a viable approach to developing self-compassion and demonstrate its potential for classroom integration.
