#Mindful moments how to#
We learn how to meet others just as they are. “With mindfulness, we naturally develop empathy for others in those feelings.”ĭeveloping compassion toward ourselves can also show us how to have empathy for others who share different experiences, viewpoints, and even ideologies. “We have this idea that feeling emotion is weak or that we don’t realize that to be present and mindful is to be constantly feeling and processing, and being with moments of sadness, fear, anxiety, loneliness, or love,” Washam explained. What can self-compassion teach us about empathy?Īccording to Washam, when we deny our emotions, vulnerabilities, and pain, we may also end up denying the emotions and experiences of others. And learning how to care about our own pain is a journey in and of itself. “A lot of times we don’t care about our own pain - we try to get rid of it or suppress it.”įrom the Buddhist perspective, practicing mindful self-compassion is about learning how to be present with ourselves and our difficulties. “Compassion is care,” Washam said, adding that it’s important to care about our pain. But the challenge of mindfulness is to be present with what’s difficult as well. It’s much easier to be present with joy, love, and happiness. She said it takes compassion to be able to sit with our anxities, sadness, anger, physical pain, or whatever may be arising at the moment. Washam, who’s been practicing mindfulness for over 20 years, described compassion as a foundational tool that emphasizes the qualities of the heart. “And that quality of mindfulness is asking us to be honest, to be present with whatever’s arising.”
“Without compassion, you can’t really practice mindfulness because you can’t really be present for what’s difficult,” she said. Spring Washam, a meditation and Dharma teacher based in Oakland, California, explained to me that mindfulness and compassion are simply opposite sides of the same coin. What is self-compassion and why is it a mindfulness practice?
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