Studies show that a compassion practice develops prosocial behavior, meaning you care and are more connected to others, and that people who engage in a daily compassion practice show an increase in positive emotions and interpersonal connections and can better understand complex thoughts in themselves and others.
So how do we do this? How do we practice compassion day in and day out?
The first step in the compassion process is to bring compassion to yourself as you open to difficult situations. Hold open the space for sadness, anger, or guilt, and bring in compassion. Go to the edge of your challenging circumstance and soften. In neuroscience this is known as expanding your window of tolerance.
Non-judgment is another key element in opening to your compassion for yourself and others. As an experience arises, can you see it for what it is rather than judging the experience? Compassionate awareness holds everything as it is.
When tension is high and nervous systems are heightened, it can be easy to forget our friend, Compassion. We get short-tempered and lose compassion for ourselves and others...
Raising our awareness of our self-compassion allows us to have more compassion for the entire world. As Mother Teresa said, “Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.
Finally, nurture yourself with a positive resource. It can be as simple as saying to yourself, this is okay, this belongs, this too will pass. As you nurture yourself you nurture the entire planet.
As the Dalai Lama XIV says, “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.”