Mindful Self Compassion (MSC) Intensive for Caregivers
With Lisa Baylis and Megan Prager
July 20 - 25, 2025
MSC Intensive for Caregivers: Loving Others without Losing Ourselves
This page is for those signed up through CSMSC for the July Intensive. This page will help you in completing your registration for room and board at Big Bear Retreat Center.
A MINDFUL SELF COMPASSION (MSC) INTENSIVE BY THE CENTER FOR MINDFUL SELF COMPASSION
Join us for this in person offering in beautiful Big Bear, California. This 5-day training is an intensive version of the 8-week*, empirically-supported MSC program, with a special focus and emphasis on self-compassion for caregivers.
The nature of caregiving is often a focus on “the other”. How can we care for another, without losing ourselves? This intensive includes short talks, experiential exercises, meditation, group discussion, and practices through the lens of caregiving, to help counteract isolation, navigate difficult emotions, and reaffirm the importance of self-compassion not as selfish, but as a way to sustainably care for another. Caregivers are worthy, deserving, and in need of their own care too!
Throughout the 5 days of training, the emphasis of the program is on building the resources of self-compassion and mindfulness through a process of self-discovery. We begin with mindfulness, through which we turn with loving awareness toward difficult experiences (thoughts, emotions, and sensations). Next, we learn to turn that loving awareness toward ourselves. Together, mindfulness and self-compassion comprise a state of warm, connected, presence during difficult moments in our lives and in caregiving.
This intensive is open to all types of caregivers: those who provide care personally or professionally, or those who care for one, many, or the planet. All are welcome.
*This is not a silent retreat.
SIMPLE YET COMFORTABLE, NESTLED IN NATURE
Simple and elegant lodgings to support rest and renewal. Our rooms are uniquely designed to offer comfort, convenience, and simplicity. All of our cabins are surrounded by nature with forest sights and sounds. Lodgings are a short walk from spaces for dining and gathering. See a video tour of a cabin.
Our Meditation Hall is spaciously designed to provide an atmosphere that feels deeply integrated with nature and the surrounding forest. The versatile space is conducive for meditation, movement, workshops, training, and other community gatherings.
Food that nourishes to support healing, restoration, and community. Our organic and seasonally inspired menus feature creative and nourishing vegetarian meals, tailored to support meditative practices. We use fresh and locally-sourced ingredients when possible. Lunch is the most substantial meal of the day and dinner is lighter. Our indoor and outdoor dining hall is open 24/7 with self-service coffee, tea and healthy snack options.
FEEL WELCOME AND INCLUDED: A PLACE TO BELONG
Our intention is to be as accessible as we can, even in ways that we may not be aware of yet. We hope this is a space of inclusivity where people feel welcome and held. For us, it is a practice of consistent attunement, presence and care to our community. However you identify – race, gender, sexuality, disability, mental health, and so on – it is our wish to meet your needs for belonging.
Please consider this about our environment:
- The center is on a hill with outdoor walkways between dining, gathering, and residential spaces.
- We are located at an elevation of 6,500 feet altitude in a ski town in the mountains of Southern California.
- We experience weather of all four seasons.
- We are located about 2 hours from Los Angeles and near 3 major airports. Learn more about getting here.
- We have a commitment to everyone’s mobility needs. Please contact us about ADA accessibility.
See our FAQs for more detailed information on accessibility to our campus and programs.
HEAR MORE ABOUT BIG BEAR RETREAT CENTER
Big Bear Retreat Center is exceptional in every way. The accommodations are outstanding, food exceptional, staff very responsive and helpful and the teachers are always so loving and knowledgeable. Just a top notch retreat experience!! – Sheila
I love Big Bear Retreat Center. It’s my dharma home away from home. Everything about it – staff, teachers, food, accommodations, setting – is exceptional. A true gift to the community!!
Big Bear Retreat Center is indeed a refuge. A safe space to open your heart. – Laura
Teachers & Facilitators
Lisa Baylis (She/Her) has been sharing wellbeing strategies for the last 20 years. A natural born connector with an innate ability to make people feel valued and heard, she is an instructor, a counsellor, a facilitator, and a mother. Lisa is a published author of Self-Compassion for Educators as well as, the creator of the AWE Method — Awakening the Wellbeing for Educators — which merges self-care, mindfulness, and self-compassion. Lisa has a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology, Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education and is a Doctoral Student through UBC-Okanagan researching Compassionate Leadership. She has taught internationally and locally. Much…
Learn more about Lisa Baylis
Megan Prager, M.A. is Co-Founder of Mindful Labs and Compassion Programs Director at UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness. She is a Certified Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Instructor (MBSR), a Certified Mindful Self-Compassion Instructor (MSC), a Certified Compassion Cultivation Instructor (CCT), a Compassion for Couples Instructor (CFC), and a Dyad Instructor (FDP) for Humanize. Megan is a Teacher Trainer and Mentor for various programs, as well as specializing in developing and delivering trainings for business, educational, healthcare, and academic settings. Megan’s passion and great joy are the same: to empower individuals and institutions with the understanding that there is nothing…
Learn more about Megan Prager