How to bring more compassion into your life
Bringing kindness into every moment
Text: Rachel L
There’s always room for compassion in our world. Often confused with empathy or altruism, compassion refers to the emotional response produced when witnessing suffering alongside the authentic desire to help. Interestingly, research has found that, beyond a moral standpoint, compassion also has great benefits for our physical health. A study in 2012 discovered that lower levels of inflammation, a key cause of cancer and other diseases, were found in people who were satisfied with their life. This satisfaction was not the happiness derived from a hedonic lifestyle but, instead, the fulfillment they had found in living a life of meaning, purpose and compassion.
However, while we might be fully aware of its necessity, practicing compassion can still be a struggle in our everyday lives. In this article, leading mindfulness teacher and trainer, Toby Ouvry, shares how we can cultivate a compassionate presence.
Remember that compassion brings new light to our pain
While struggling to bear the burden of our own stress and wounds, harnessing the energy to have compassion for others might seem like an impossible task. However, nurturing a worldview that exists beyond ourselves is not simply an altruistic act of self-sacrifice or a way to earn moral brownie points. Rather it opens up a new realm of understanding of our own pain and is actually an intelligent and wise way of getting by!
One of the simplest ways to transform our pain is to turn it into a doorway to compassion. While going through our trials and tribulations, compassion takes our struggles and casts light on how others are grappling with the same battles or worse. For example, when faced with loneliness, understanding that many in the world also face this reminds us that we are not alone in our struggle and can also drive us toward active action when witnessing someone wrestling with the same issue. In this way, compassion gives us a fresh perspective and drives us to take action to help others as well.
Be present and don’t turn from suffering
Often times, the best response we can have to injustice and suffering is to acknowledge the pain before us. This allows us to:
Recognise it. While this might seem like a trivial gesture, it shows the person struggling that we see their hurt, acknowledge it, and will stand by them as they fight this battle.
Take any action if we can. While this might not always be possible, we should always grab every opportunity to be active supporters of those around us as we walk with them through their darkest moments. Even a little help can go a long way!
Take it a moment at a time
The thought of practicing compassion at every waking moment might feel overwhelming. However, Toby reminds us that cultivating a compassionate presence simply means focusing on how we can work on reducing the suffering of others and ourselves at the present moment with what we have at our disposable. Focusing on being present in every instance and taking each opportunity that comes to be kind will allow us to build a compassionate presence one step at a time.
Remember it gets better with practice
The great thing about building a compassionate presence is that it gets easier over time! As life unfolds and our experience increases, our ability to understand and relate to what others are going through increases. And when this is combined with the practice of being present every day, it can make the power of our compassionate presence grow exponentially.
