Freeing yourself to feel and offer compassion
Let’s be honest: despite our best efforts, we might not always find ourselves feeling that compassionate. We might berate ourselves for a choice we made, thing we said, or act we did or didn’t do. We might feel irritated by a friend, family member, or colleague. Or we might feel unable to really extend our compassion to people outside our inner circle that we know are suffering.
If this sounds familiar – don’t worry. It’s completely understandable. We live hectic lives, overwhelmed with news, demands, and challenges. It’s not surprising if sometimes we feel drained and drawn into “shut-down” mode.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t find ways out of it – ways to help us reboot.
An growing area of research is helping us to understand the so-called “barriers to compassion” – the things in our lives, the thought patterns, the assumptions that stop us from experiencing the power of compassion both for ourselves and for other. Using that knowledge we can tackle these barriers head on and start to free ourselves from the burdens that are inhibiting our compassion.