Mindful Awareness in Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT): Balancing the Inner and Outer Worlds

By Melanie Rivera, Counsellor | Integrative Psychotherapist

Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) encourages us to cultivate an inner attitude of care and non-judgment. But what happens when our focus becomes too narrow—either inward, toward our thoughts and pain, or outward, toward the environment and others?

This article explores how shifting between internal and external awareness can support emotional regulation, presence, and compassionate engagement with self and others. It’s a simple but powerful CFT-informed practice that can help us restore balance.

What Is Inner and Outer Awareness?

In simple terms:

• Inner awareness refers to noticing what’s happening inside—your breath, body sensations, thoughts, or emotions.

  
  

• Outer awareness involves tuning into your environment—sights, sounds, space, and connection to the world around you.

  
  

Both are important. In Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT), developing this flexible focus is essential to regulating our threat system and activating our soothing system.

The CFT Perspective

When we become fused with internal distress (rumination, self-criticism, shame), it’s easy to spiral. Conversely, when we dissociate into the external world—numbing, avoiding, people-pleasing—we can lose touch with our own needs.

Mindful awareness allows us to:

• Create space between self and experience

• Access choice instead of reactivity

• Strengthen compassion for ourselves and others

  
  

Paul Gilbert, founder of CFT, notes that compassion involves "sensitivity to suffering, with a commitment to relieve and prevent it" (Gilbert, 2010). Awareness is the gateway to this sensitivity.

A Simple Awareness Shift Exercise | You can practice this in just a few minutes:

1. Pause and notice: Where is your attention? Inside or outside?

   
   

2. Label it: “I’m noticing my anxious thoughts.” OR “I’m noticing the sound of the birds.”

   
   

3. Gently shift: Bring awareness to the opposite space.– If you’re stuck in thoughts, tune into something around you.– If you’re distracted, check in with your breath or body.

   
   

4. Repeat: Gradually learn to flow between both.

This flexible awareness helps regulate the nervous system and strengthen emotional resilience.

Therapy or Workshop Context

Whether used in 1-to-1 therapy or in a group workshop setting, this practice becomes a gentle yet powerful anchor. In our CFT workshop , we might introduce this shift as a grounding ritual to open and close the group space.

Therapists may also use it in sessions to help clients:

• Notice moments of dissociation or hyper-focus

• Build tolerance for uncomfortable emotions

• Connect more fully with the present

A Final Reflection

We often don’t need to fix our experience—just notice it, with gentle awareness. As we learn to move between the inner and outer world, we may find ourselves more connected, balanced, and compassionate.

For a guided practice based on this theme, explore my audio meditation: “Inner and Outer Awareness” on Insight Timer : https://insig.ht/RTLkc4GwoVb?utm_source=copy_link&utm_medium=content

References

• Gilbert, P. (2010). The Compassionate Mind. London: Constable & Robinson.

• Kolts, R. (2016). CFT Made Simple. New Harbinger.

• Lee, D. (2021). Recovering from Trauma Using CFT. Routledge.