Spring 2025 In-Person Compassion Cultivation Training©

While there are many ways we can respond to suffering as human beings, neuroscience confirms what wisdom traditions have taught for millennia: compassion is both an innate capacity and a skill we can strengthen. We can deliberately cultivate and train our ability to stay connected to our deepest values and common humanity - the better angels of our nature - in the face of suffering while caring for ourselves and others. Amazingly, doing so can actually buffer us and others from the negative affects of stress, strengthen our social connections and communities, and help us respond in a skillful and sustainable manner in the face of difficulties large and small.

Compassion Cultivation Training© (CCT™) is an 8-week personal and professional development course designed at Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education which is taught globally by Certified CCT Instructors. It is grounded in the neurobiology of compassion and supports participants in connecting to their own experience, wisdom, and insights while cultivating compassion for themselves and others. The program includes practical tools and exercises designed to enhance your awareness, compassion, and resilience.

The course includes:

• A two-hour weekly class with teaching, reflection, discussion, and in-class exercises
• Access to online guided meditations to support a regular practice of cultivating care, compassion, and connection to our common humanity
• Resources to further explore the themes of each week

• Practical applications to develop compassionate thoughts and actions in real life

Questions? Please contact Laura Banks or consider joining a free, one-hour online Introduction to CCT.

• Thursday, February 20, 2025, 1-2pm ET
• Sunday, March 2, 2025, 1-2pm ET

If you are interested but unable to join this in-person session located in Washington, DC, considered registering for Spring 2025 Online CCT taught by Laura Banks which will meet on Thursdays, March 27 - May 15 from 1-3pm ET. (Confirm your local time here.)

Early-Bird Registration - $325 by February 23, 2025

Regular Registration - $375 by March 7, 2025

*Please note that no person who is committed to attending and being engaged in the full course will be turned away due to cost. Please contact Laura Banks if you would like to participate but the fee is prohibitive. Laura is willing and able to reduce or waive the fee as needed. Additionally, a generous donor has offered to fund scholarships for those affected by the recent executive orders and directives in the United States. Please contact Laura for more information.

Half of the registration fees collected for this in-person session will be donated to , helping to preserve and protect this historic property and share the transformational power of this special space. President Lincoln’s Cottage is an independent 501(c)(3) public charity and receives no federal operating support.

Host or Publisher Laura Banks