Mindfulness Monday: Compassion

Join Dr. Laura Smallwood as we discuss compassion. Compassion starts with kindness, but also adds empathy, or as Dr. Laura states "I think of compassion as what happens when kindness meets up with a difficult or painful situation."

We discuss how compassion starts with the recognition of suffering, and is as simple as a heartfelt desire for the person experiencing suffering to be free from that suffering. Compassion doesn't necessarily demand action, and sometimes our need to take action can make a situation worse.

We also discuss how compassion fatigue is not actually possible, because compassion isn't a limited commodity, and we do not suffer from being too compassionate. In fact, studies have shown the opposite. This misunderstanding often arises when we carry transactional-based expectations based on how 'nice' we think we've been to others.

And finally, we discuss how compassion directed at those who have done wrong can be healing for all involved, because we recognize that all harm arises from suffering.

This was a truly special episode for us, as we hope it will be for you.

Episode Resources and Recommendations:

Link: Guided Meditation for Compassion Practice by Dr. Laura Smallwood

Loving Kindness: the Revolutionary Art of Happiness by Sharon Salzberg

Attending: Medicine, Mindfulness and Humanity by Ronald Epstein

Self Compassion: The Proven Power of being Kind to Yourself by Kristen Neff

Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky