Mindfulness involves learning to be more aware of life as it unfolds moment by moment, even if these moments bring us difficulty, pain, or suffering. This is a challenge we will all face at some time in our lives, and which health professionals face every day in their work. The Mindfulness-Based Compassionate Living program presents a new way of learning how to face the pressures of modern living by providing an antidote that teaches us how to cultivate kindness and compassion, starting with being kind to ourselves. Compassion involves both sensitivity to our own and others' suffering and the courage to deal with it. Integrating the work of experts in the field such as Paul Gilbert, Kristin Neff, Christopher Germer, and Tara Brach, Erik van den Brink and Frits Koster have established an eight-stage step-by-step compassion training program, supported by practice.