Meditation: You're Not Alone
Every day I wake up and see through my own eyes. Life’s natural rhythm is to make it all about me, my, and me.
The practice of empathy asks me to get outside of myself and see my life as a part of a larger whole. Our humanity guarantees to suffer. Empathy is what allows us to feel seen in the midst of our struggles. Most often it looks like listening or a simple reminder that “you’re not alone.”
Challenge: set a timer for 3 mins and allow the people that you care about to enter your mind. Send them love and support. After the 3 mins, text or call at least one of these people and offer a gesture of support.
Thought: Empathy Is The Key To Unlock Connections and Prevent Social Isolation
Researchers believe people can choose to cultivate and prioritize empathy. People who spend more time with individuals different from themselves tend to adopt a more empathic outlook toward others. Other research finds that reading novels can help foster the ability to put ourselves in the minds of others. Meditation has also been shown to help cultivate brain states that increase empathy.
Thought: Empathy vs. Sympathy
-Empathy is feeling with people. Sympathy is feeling for them.
-Empathy fuels connection. Sympathy drives disconnection.
-The empathetic response : I get it, I feel with you and I’ve been there. The sympathetic response. Feel sorry for you.
-When someone feels sorry for us, it magnifies our feelings of being alone, when someone feels with us , it magnifies our feelings of connection and normalcy.
– From Brene Brown, Dare To Lead
Thought: "Ubuntu" - I am who I am through other people
“Ubuntu is the essence of being human. It speaks of how my humanity is caught up and bound up inextricably with yours.” – Desmond Tutu
Ubuntu is a South African word that means I am because we are. Its principles invite us to be kinder, more empathetic, and connected to others. Ubuntu played a huge role at the end of the apartheid movement and we believe it has the power to transform how we view the world today
Here’s a TED talk that explores Ubuntu and how it might inspire your daily life.
Thought: The Roots Of Your Anger
Evolutionary psychologists tell us that anger evolved “in the services of bargaining, to resolve conflicts of interest in favor of the angry individual”
When you’re angry at others, your mental calculus inflates the importance you place on your own welfare and goals at the expense of others.