{"id":1311,"date":"2017-04-05T05:00:29","date_gmt":"2017-04-05T12:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rickhanson.net\/?p=4261"},"modified":"2017-04-05T05:00:29","modified_gmt":"2017-04-05T12:00:29","slug":"have-compassion-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justonething\/2017\/04\/have-compassion-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Have Compassion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Do You Care?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Practice:<\/em>
\nHave compassion.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/em><\/p>\n

Compassion is essentially the wish that beings not suffer \u2013 from subtle physical and emotional discomfort to agony and anguish \u2013 combined with feelings of sympathetic concern.<\/p>\n

You could have compassion for an individual (a friend in the hospital, a co-worker passed over for a promotion), groups of people (victims of crime, those displaced by a hurricane, refugee children), animals (your pet, livestock heading for the slaughterhouse), and yourself.<\/p>\n

Compassion is not pity, agreement, or a waiving of your rights. You can have compassion for people who\u2019ve wronged you<\/a> while also insisting that they treat you better.<\/p>\n

Compassion by itself opens your heart and nourishes people you care about. Those who receive your compassion are more likely to be patient, forgiving, and compassionate with you. Compassion reflects the wisdom that everything is related to everything else, and it naturally draws you into feeling more connected with all things.<\/p>\n

Additionally, compassion can incline you to helpful action. For example, one study showed that motor circuits in the brain lit up when people were feeling compassionate, as if they were getting ready to do something about the suffering they were sensing.<\/p>\n

How?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Compassion is natural; you don\u2019t have to force it; just open to the difficulty, the struggle, the stress, the impact of events, the sorrow and strain in the other person; open your heart, let yourself be moved, and let compassion flow through you.<\/p>\n

Feel what compassion\u2019s like in your body \u2013 in your chest, throat, and face. Sense the way it softens your thoughts, gentles your reactions. Know it so you can find your way back again.<\/p>\n

Moments of compassion come in the flow of life \u2013 maybe a friend tells you about a loss, or you can see the hurt behind someone\u2019s angry face, or a hungry child looks out at you from the pages of a newspaper.<\/p>\n

Also, you can deliberately call in compassion a minute (or more), perhaps each day; here are a few suggestions:
\n\u00b7 Relax and tune into your body.
\n\u00b7 Remember the feeling of being with someone who cares about you.
\n\u00b7 Bring to mind someone it is easy to feel compassion for.
\n\u00b7 Perhaps put your compassion into words, softly heard in the back of your mind, such as: \u201cMay you not suffer . . . may this hard time pass . . . may things be alright for you.\u201d
\n\u00b7 Expand your circle of compassion to include others; consider a benefactor (someone who has been kind to you), friend, neutral person, difficult person (a challenge, certainly), and yourself (sometimes the hardest person of all).
\n\u00b7 Going further, extend compassion to all the beings in your family . . . neighborhood . . . city . . . state . . . country . . . world. All beings, known or unknown, liked or disliked. Humans, animals, plants, even microbes. Beings great or small, in the air, on the ground, under water. Including all, omitting none.<\/p>\n

Going through your day, open to compassion from time to time for people you don\u2019t know: someone in a deli, a stranger on a bus, crowds moving down the sidewalk.<\/p>\n

Let compassion settle into the background of your mind and body. As what you come from, woven into your gaze, words, and actions.<\/p>\n

Omitting none.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>

The post Have Compassion<\/a> appeared first on Dr. Rick Hanson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do You Care? The Practice: Have compassion. Why? Compassion is essentially the wish that beings not suffer – from subtle physical and emotional discomfort to agony and anguish – combined with feelings of sympathetic concern. You could have compassion for an individual (a friend in…<\/p>\n

The post Have Compassion<\/a> appeared first on Dr. Rick Hanson<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-just-one-thing"],"yoast_head":"\nHave Compassion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do You Care? The Practice: Have compassion. Why? Compassion is essentially the wish that beings not suffer – from subtle physical and emotional discomfort to agony and anguish – combined with feelings of sympathetic concern. You could have compassion for an individual (a friend in... 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