How Compassion Can Transform Your Life

Compassion is so deeply anchored in my life, which makes me share this topic with you.

It's one of my core values and I see its significance for mine, and ultimately the collectives', mental health. It truly has the power to transform your life, the lives of everyone around you, and I believe the whole world. So let's dive straight into it.

Why Self Compassion is so powerful.

Every day we walk through life and are surrounded by our thoughts. Throughout my life, they have created a feeling of disconnectedness and made me feel overwhelmed. One of the reasons why this felt so challenging, was that I was talking negatively to myself, I was lacking self-compassion.

Instead of being supportive of myself, being my best friend and talking positively internally, I was cruel and judging, which led me many times down a rabbit hole. But what if we can flip the coin around, what happens when we are our biggest supporter, best friend and fan, and be compassionate and kind to ourselves? Well, my love I can tell you, it will change your life fundamentally.

Compassion for ourselves is so powerful, that it can transform every part of our lives, from the moment we wake up, looking the first time into the mirror, to greeting our loved ones, friends and colleagues, throughout our days, it enables us to be receptive and open and welcoming them into our hearts, which is such a beautiful opportunity for us and everyone around us to grow as a human, as we start truly listening to the world around us and tuning in with what life has to offer.

Science suggests that we have up to 60000 thoughts per day, with 80% of them being negative and 95% repetitive. When we are more compassionate to ourselves, we can navigate through these negative thought patterns and introduce compassion through mindfulness, and positive self-talk. With these tools, we can change our relationship with ourselves, our thought patterns and how we perceive life.

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How to practice self compassion

Practicing Self Compassion starts with applying wisdom and awareness to the nature of your own suffering and being loving and kind to yourself. We realise that everyone is suffering, it is a part of the human experience and while the content may be different, there’s suffering and pain that happens to everyone at different times in their lives. So you are not alone with this and it can be a beautiful experience to share your insights with others and see how they can relate to it.

Self Compassion is a pro-active practice and involves dedication, positive self talk, being gracious and warm to ourselves when we face failure, imperfections, disappointments and our own suffering. What I personally do is encourage myself and be aware of how I am talking to myself and the nature of change and realise that this experience will also pass.

Affirmations are a good tool to practice self compassion, along with journaling. You can practice self compassion journaling, which will change the way how you talk to your self.

As I've mentioned before I've realised in my life many times how supportive journaling can be, it elevates the pressure from the mind and creates more space to think clearly and see my internal world from a different angle.

The other week, I was listening to a beautiful Podcast with Jay Shetty, in which he shared his morning routine. One of the things really stuck with me. He mentioned that you can't control all the thoughts you have during the day, but you can control your first and last thought. That's why he places a sticky note next to his bed table with the question "What am I grateful for?" So every time he wakes up he sees this little note which makes him internalise this question.

I feel that's such a beautiful little trick and helps you to reflect on the gifts of life.

I found this amazing website from Dr. Kirstin Neff which offers diverse exercises and guided practices. It gives you a broader understanding of what self compassion means and how to apply it -> https://self-compassion.org/self-compassion-practices/

The difference between Sympathy, Empathy and Compassion

At first glance, they may seem similar, but through closer examination, there exists a fundamental distinction between them. Sympathy means you have feelings of regret or sorrow for someone else who is experiencing hardship and it primarily involves an emotional response or feeling of concern for another's well-being.

Empathy, on the other hand, is your ability to experience the emotions, ideas, or opinions of that person which means if someone else is suffering, you are suffering, too, because there are no clear boundaries between you and the other person.

Compassion literally means to suffer together and it enables us to listen to diverse viewpoints and support others in navigating their circumstances. It is driven by a desire to alleviate or reduce their suffering. It includes a proactive element of wanting to help or support the other person through guidance, motivation and supportive words.

How to create a more compassionate life around us

Life goes pretty quick, and it is filled with millions of interactions with others. Enhancing value and serve others in the best way possible means applying compassion into these interactions, however small they might seem. A smile can change the world from the people around us and I am aware of the impact my energy can make on others. I see it clearly when I encounter strangers on the street and share a smile that comes from my heart and see their face lightening up in response.

Being receptive and kind to my partner, my friends and surroundings and supporting the world around me with compassion and love is such a beautiful opportunity to help the collective consciousness flourish. We all have the power to change the world with our actions, how small the impact may seem. It's about all the small steps you take to create this place of peace and of loving kindness around you.

Speaking with others about topics like this can be a real eye opener and can help you deepen your understanding of it. I believe to generate wisdom it is important to be able to see one thing from different perspectives, that's why being integrated in a mindful community is so valuable, because you can do this collectively if you speak and listen with an open mind and heart.

A lot of people are afraid of taking action and think "What can I change in this world" - well, I believe in this quote "The World isn't happening to me, it's happening for me", which means we have to step out of our victim mentality and realise our true potential, the ability to transform our internal world entirely when we simply shift our perception and see opportunity, where others see failure. Life can be challenging in times and if we supports ourselves and others with the tools mentioned previously, we become stronger to act more effectively.

Thank you all for reading, it means truly the world to me if some of you resonate with the insights and topics we cover in this blog.

Life is such an amazing experience and I am eternally grateful to share it with all of you.

Love & Gratitude