A most excellent welcoming greetings with a "smile activity" which segued into a brief reminder that smiling can calm the mind and body – nice, creating a safe space for the rest of the Skill. ~CB

The “what made you smile this week” opening was very nice and clearly enjoyable to the group, creating a sense of camaraderie and safety.

Going to the group first (in this case, for the definition of compassion) communicates that participants’ thoughts and input are important and that enhances the sense of safety.

Reference to the excellence of last week’s facilitator is also another way to create safe space.

Excellent going to group for examples of external forms of suffering, again, giving the group first crack and cultivating a sense of their importance to and safety within the process.

Very attentive to participants, including noticing when one was talking in response to a question, but was still on mute and providing gentle statement of that fact – all of which communicates both caring and safety.

Wonderful work NOT putting anyone on the spot when no one piped up to provide input regarding Empathic Concern, which is critical to maintaining a sense of safety.

Good wrap-up and preview of next week’s material, both of which help set participant expectation and add to sense of safety.

Excellent personal sharing of relevant stories of resilience (not suffering) – brief and vulnerable – making it safe for others to do the same. ~RK

Trini did a nice with all the slides for which she facilitated – the definition of compassion, including the biological basis for compassion, emphasizing that the biological compassion usual only applies to close circle "family" or "in group," which is a thinking trap. She did a very nice job with the three components of compassion transitioning to her co-facilitator Kathe to take up the Sense of Agency and the thinking trap of powerlessness. ~CB

Great overview/ reminder of the Eight Worldly Concerns, pulling in comments/input from the group made over the course of the session.

Great summary of the Thinking Traps on that slide, and going to the group for their thoughts on them and which ones are challenging for us, with excellent validation of participant input. ~RK

Although we did not do the actual exercise, Trini did a great job with explaining the Break Out Activity for the three-components skits and later the actual Contemplative Practice (gold star! 😊) ~CB

Bright and humorous description of Breakout, including references to previous participant input as a possible partial aspect of the breakout skit. ~RK

Trini did a nice job describing the RW and MD for this Skill – to be done as "homework." She covered the "rules of the road" for MD, always important for facilitators to remind folks. ~CB

Good job practicing this assignment as homework since it’s one that can be cut from the session if time is running short. Very good job including reminders of what aspects are in place for a live RW/MD to apply when connecting virtually outside of class. ~RK

I believe Trini did exceptionally well in all the areas of Skill 8 on which she facilitated, including the activities about which she described.

Nice close to opening “smile” check-in, relating the calming effects of smiling back to Skill 1 and the emotional awareness and equanimity aspects back to Skills 2 and 3 as well as the gratitude aspect of Skill 6. Good use of “overview” slide. ~CB

Nice personal story to reflect alleviating pain (man with a magic wand). The mother story was also evocative of compassion and provided a good segue to the slide depicting a mother tending to a sick child, and effectively reinforced the biological basis of compassion.

Generally very good with segues and, in particular, the segue about alleviating suffering being different depending on who’s suffering - friend, enemy or stranger – providing a preview of or telegraphing that portion of the skill.

Excellent paraphrasing and recapping of participant input, recalling and sharing bits and pieces through the course of the lesson.

Great reminder that compassionate acts need not be grand, and that compassion can be actualized in very small acts (including personal example of giving water to a homeless person on a hot day).

Provided a great description of Empathic Concern after the group did not pick up the invitation to provide one.

Excellent invitation to share observed examples of a Sense of Agency, including good telegraphing of compassion as a motivation and excellent reference to the one-over-many aspect of Empathic Concern.

Excellent incorporation of your empathic distress/concern sponge metaphor CE. ~RK

Nice job. See above.

Silence can be golden, but when it last longer than a certain period of time, subjectively it becomes very uncomfortable for the facilitator (I know, I have experienced it! 😊) I am not sure if a little more patient waiting would have produced more sharing with Trini and the group, but that is the only aspect that might be improved. Not unique in Trini's case. Overall outstanding job. KUDOS. ~CB

Check-ins need to reinforce how participants are using/embodying the skills and practices over the course of the preceding week, particularly the analytical practices.

Providing a full example of the skit activity (in which one of the three components of compassion is absent in the first iteration) is often helpful to participants in completing the Skill 8 Breakout; otherwise, they can spin their wheels a bit clarifying their charge once they’re in their breakout groups.

Sponge metaphor CE could use more tightly focused debrief questions. ~RK