On Compassion…

What is Compassion? Are their different types of Compassion? Why is Compassion important?

During this time of year I am humbled at our human ability to suddenly light candles of compassion and empathy within ourselves, others and communities that we might not even regard the rest of the year through.

Now, there are many who have made it their life’s work to understand, evaluate, quantify and qualify the complexities of compassion. Brene Brown, Resmaa Menakem, and Pema Chodron come to mind for me at the moment.

But my point here is not to try to do what they already do best. My point is to find ways to facilitate keeping the candles of compassion burning all year long, not only for others, but also for ourselves.

Ultimately, we cannot have compassion for others if we first cannot cultivate it in our own self for our own self. What does this mean? Well, for me it really has come down to learning how to snuff out my inner critic and fan the flames of the more compassionate voices that burn inside me.

Oh my inner critic is alive and well, and has a jealous and hot fire that flickers when I least expect it…”you’re not good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, skinny enough, driven enough…blah blah blah”. But what if I blew those fires out with words of self-compassion?

Now, I know that the smoke of my inner critic will still waft into my subconscious and sometimes try to reignite. Yet through conscious action of tending to my own self, reflecting back on what I am experiencing from my inner critic, and emphasizing all that I am with as little expectation or ego as possible, I find I have been able to sit and warm myself in front of the roaring bonfire of my own self compassion.

And this heat emanates, expanding the warmth of compassion that I can share with others. I know that this is not new information for some. However while it might not be new, I have noticed that it could be novel; suggesting that it is difficult to cultivate and maintain. A fire takes tending to remain lit.

I hope to be able to provide some self exploration tools and methods on how to fuel your compassion fire for yourself, your community and our globe during my Connecting to Compassion 6 Week Community Yoga Event.

Jan 12-Feb16, 2021

I hope you join in.