Compassion is Energizing, Empathy is Fatiguing

-

In this time of division and discord, I think it’s in all of our interests to engage with the compassion practices. If not for the welfare of others, at minimum for your own well-being. In the last blog posting, I mentioned that I’d share more about the compassion meditation practices. The key takeaway? The compassion practices are actually very good for your wellbeing.


“... much like any motor ability, it has also been shown that empathy and compassion can be trained; …compassion training has been associated with a number of intrapersonal and interpersonal benefits, ranging from increases in psychological well-being and health to increased cooperation, trust, and tolerance.”


From: Chierchia, G., & Singer, T. (2017). The neuroscience of compassion and empathy and their link to prosocial motivation and behavior. In Decision neuroscience (pp. 247-257). Academic Press.



In scientific circles, empathy is considered the precursor to compassion - the recognition that another being is suffering. Compassion is built upon the recognition of another’s suffering, and goes one step further - the concern about another being’s suffering, accompanied by a motivation to help. While helping beings who are suffering is clearly preferable, the benefits of the compassion practices arise simply by feeling motivated to relieve suffering.


From: Singer, T., & Klimecki, O. M. (2014). Empathy and compassion. Current biology, 24(18), R875-R878.


If you’re not already integrating compassion practices into your meditation, I recommend building upon the practice in the prior blog posting with the following analytical practice.

  • Bring to mind yourself or a being you love (this being could be human or non-human, living or nonliving)
    • It’s your choice - some people readily connect to their own basic goodness, though others find it easier to see that goodness in their beloved
  • Contemplate that this being (you or your beloved) yearns to be happy and free from hardship
    • Wish for this being’s happiness and freedom from hardship
  • Quietly to yourself, recite whatever words express this wish for happiness and freedom from hardship
  • After a few minutes of this compassion practice, feel free to return to the attentional practice of your choice

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

100,000 Miles on the Tesla

-
Image
I've been a car guy  my entire life. Toy cars were my childhood obsession. As a teenager, I somehow took obsessed  to the next level, and literally memorized tracts of my favorite auto repair manuals. (Yes, I had favorite repair manuals). I slightly downregulated these obsessions in my middle years, though I was still keenly aware of the cars around me, gimbaling to lock in on an unfamiliar model or automotive rarity. This Tesla Model Y has been on many roadtrips. When the Tesla Model S came out in 2012, I was swept off my feet by its aesthetics, performance and the underlying technology. Initially Tesla sightings were infrequent, and I employed the unproven technique of staring/not-staring in an inept attempt to avoid stalking the early adopters. Within a few years, however, the more-affordable Model 3 opened the sales flood gates, and it suddenly seemed like Teslas were everywhere. The "Idiot Book" was my favorite repair manual. By the time the Tesla Model Y (the small ...
Read more

Caring for “higher mileage bodies”

-
Image
Well into middle-age, I harbored the misguided belief that well-engineered cars could last indefinitely. Toiling under the influence of this delusion, I poured untold tens of thousands of dollars into various old European cars. Thankfully I got past this misconception, and came to appreciate that entropy is an equal opportunity law of Physics, and that higher mileage cars simply take more upkeep than newer cars do. As with cars, so too with the human body. I once drove a Saab 9000, and it took an astounding sum of money to keep it running, particularly as it aged. Overall I’ve taken pretty good care of the body that I inhabit. Certain excesses and impulses aside, I’ve eaten well, stayed active and worked deliberately with my mind. And so far the preliminary results have been encouraging - I enjoy mental and physical health, and the freedom to run, bike and ski not dissimilarly to my youth. This being said, aging (entropy) is very real, and I find that this older body takes more upkeep ...
Read more

Yoga on the Road

-
Image
While the glaciers covered much of North America’s midsection and smoothed the land into submission, a tiny sliver of the Middle West managed to escape glaciation. The Driftless Region contains a fascinating rise and fall of the land, in stark contrast with people’s view of a flat and lifeless Midwest. Tucked into a corner of the Driftless Region was a small experiment in communal living, sustainable agriculture, and yoga. Cress Spring Farm was home for an ever-changing array of characters, and even twenty-plus years later many of the meals, practices, and stories remain memorable. Uttered casually in the kitchen one morning, I still clearly remember Roger stating broadly, “if you can’t take your practice on the road, it ain’t worth shit.” Since many of us spent a good deal of time traveling, this comment piqued our interest. I don’t remember if Roger ever elaborated, but I did find affirmation that traveling is one of the best times to maintain, or even deepen, a personal yoga ...
Read more