about

Background

Anna Friis, PhD, is a certified Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) teacher and a health psychologist in private practise in Auckland, New Zealand. She specialises in mindfulness and compassion-based therapy. She has had a life-long devotion to ashtanga yoga, a form of moving meditation which provided the foundation for her evolution as a practitioner and teacher of MSC. Anna first trained as a journalist and has had a substantial career as the director of a public relations company specialising in crisis management.. Her corporate life provided the inspiration for a Master’s degree investigating the effects of stress and meditation on the autonomic nervous system and subsequent doctoral research demonstrated the psychological and physiological effects of mindful self-compassion training.  The results of these studies have been published as peer-reviewed journal articles, contributing to the scientific understanding of the mind-body effects of self-compassion. Alongside her clinical and teaching work, her major life focus now is to contribute to projects that serve to  create a kinder and more just world.