Strengthening Self-Kindness Workshop - A Mindful Life Studio, Maplewood NJ

The Strengthening Self-Kindness Workshop is a two-hour mindfulness workshop for anyone whose inner critic tends to run the show. It is led by mindfulness facilitator Jean Vitrano at A Mindful Life Studio in Maplewood, New Jersey, and welcomes people from South Orange, Millburn, Short Hills and the wider Essex County area. The focus is practical: learning to meet harsh self-talk and anxiety with mindfulness and loving-kindness.

What to Expect

The workshop runs from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm on a Saturday morning. It starts from two questions: when your self-critic is loud, do you know how to respond, and when you feel anxious, can you befriend the fear behind it?

Jean's premise is that we are often our own biggest critics, and that responding to that critic with kindness is a skill that can be strengthened. Together you explore ways to be a friend to yourself and build tools for taking care of yourself with awareness and compassion. The aim is to keep the voices that don't serve you from dominating, particularly the ones that get in the way of living the way you aspire to live. From there, the workshop points toward freeing yourself from self-limiting perceptions and making room for more joy and connection.

The in-person session is limited to 16 people, which keeps the room small enough for real attention.

About Jean Vitrano

Jean Vitrano is a mindfulness facilitator and meditation teacher based in Maplewood, New Jersey. She leads mindfulness groups, meditation classes, workshops, retreats and private sessions, both from her studio and online, supporting people in developing presence, awareness, compassion and acceptance. Her approach rests on a listening presence and curiosity, and on the idea that if we practice meeting ourselves with kindness, we can change the world.

She brings 30 years of training in mindfulness and meditation, a 20-year private practice as a Licensed Massage Therapist, and work in somatic modalities. Her background also includes movement awareness and a career as a professional contemporary dancer. She holds a BA from NYU, is a graduate of the Feldenkrais Method Training Program, and has studied with the late Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. She has also been facilitating her ongoing A Mindful Life groups for ten years.

The Place

The workshop takes place at A Mindful Life Studio, Suite B4, 697 Valley Street in Maplewood, New Jersey, Jean's own studio, where she teaches her in-person classes and groups.

Before You Go

Nothing in the description asks for prior meditation experience. If you are unsure whether Jean's work suits you, she offers short discovery calls to help you find the right class or offering.