Meditation with Mercy

A kinder and clearer way to learn

Coming January 19, 2027.

If you have been told to just try meditation and found it vague or impossible to fit into your week, this book begins differently: with a chair, a few minutes a day, and a journal you will actually open.

Your mind will wander. That is what minds do, the way hearts beat. When you notice it has wandered, you set down the criticism that usually follows and come back. That small act of mercy, repeated, is the practice.

The missing step

You've probably been told to be kind to yourself. For many of us, that advice skips a step. What gets in the way of self-compassion is usually a charge we carry against ourselves: that we're at fault, that we should be handling things better, that we haven't earned any help. Mercy works like a pardon. It sets the punishment aside without asking you to win the case first, and that makes room for self-compassion to land.

Eight weeks, a few minutes a day

Ten short chapters, practiced over eight weeks. Each chapter takes up one half-explained phrase you've probably heard, like "empty your mind" or "be kind to yourself," and fills in the step that's missing. The first two weeks lay the foundation: why you meditate, what mercy is, how to sit and walk, and what tends to happen when you do. Then come the four movements, Settle, See, Soften, and Return, and two chapters on finding your own rhythm and choosing when to begin again. The daily sit starts at three minutes and grows to ten, and it stops there. You can sit, walk, or lie down. Every practice has a guided recording in Kim's voice, reached by a QR code printed beside it in the book.

Fidelity, agency, and conscious choice

This book asks for fidelity to your practice instead of a rigid daily obligation. You choose when, where, and how long, and a missed day is a choice you made, with nothing to make up. The practice is still here when you come back.

The Meditation with Mercy Practice Journal

A companion journal, out the same day as the book, with room for each week's prompts, the daily practice log, and the two steps that open and close every sit: setting an intention and the dedication. It is designed to lie flat on a table beside you, with wide inner margins for writing.

Practice with others