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Healing through KINDNESS AND
COMPASSION
"If we live in our ego, the world is very scarce."--
recent
conversation with my friend and colleague, Lori Lipten,
Medical Intuitive
Why is it that many healing programs do not make an
impact on those who suffer? They may be staffed with
renowned professionals, evidenced-based theories,
manuals and documentation that appease every
agency known to humankind along with research
articles produced beyond your wildest dreams. You
may have been directed by someone to partake in this
healing program, for obvious political reasons. Their
rationale speaks from a place of fear. As
uncomfortable as it may seem to you on the surface,
you trust your head and not your heart.
My yoga teacher reminded our class one morning
about the Woodstock concert, which took place in
1969. I don’t believe he was even born then.
However, he had a great sense of what went on as if
he attended. I was only eight years old, so I have no
recollection other than what I learned about as I grew
older. My yoga teacher described how nothing about
this concert/event was organized. There was no
publicity by channel that are available to us now, no
plans to feed the anticipated amount of attendees, no
back stage organization, no ticket takers, extra security
measures…not much of any formal organization.
However, Woodstock was an amazing historical
event. What made it so powerful?...the compassion
and kindness, along with love and trust, that was
exuded among the performers and the attendees. It
was a higher vibration of consciousness brought
together by the energy of those who were present. It
was a tremendous amount of “letting go” of old
notions and cultivating a vast amount of trust.
What is it that positive healing environments have that
transcend the book theory? Or, perhaps these
positive healing environments operate based on
evidence-based research and adhere to all of the
accrediting bodies’ rules? Even with internal
guidelines in place, what sets them apart from
programs that just go through the motions? Why do
their participants leave so transformed? It goes back
to the Woodstock example—compassion, kindness,
love and trust. Let’s explore:
COMPASSION
Compassion is a profound human emotion prompted
by the pain of others. More vigorous than empathy, the
feeling commonly gives rise to an active desire to
alleviate another's suffering. It is often, though not
inevitably, the key component in what manifests in the
social context as altruism. It is a deep awareness of
and sympathy for another's suffering along with the
humane quality of understanding the suffering of
others and wanting to do something about it. A
powerful, deep awareness of someone else's
suffering, making it so that you want them not to suffer.
Compassion is more than a mere desire to help; it
creates a determination, a decision to actually help,
even if only in some small way. Compassion puts
something of yourself on the line: perhaps your power
over someone, or your time, or wealth, or effort, or
healing skills. When it's strong, compassion overrides
angry or vengeful desires. Compassion differs from
mercy in that compassion is about an emotional
connection, while mercy is about an action.
Compassion can lead to mercy.
The act of compassion begins with full attention, just
as rapport does. You have to really see the person. If
you see the person, then naturally, empathy arises. If
you tune into the other person, you feel with them. If
empathy arises, and if that person is in dire need,
then empathic concern can come. You want to help
them, and then that begins a compassionate act. So
I'd say that compassion begins with attention. (Daniel
Goleman)
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If
you want to be happy, practice compassion. (The
Dalai Lama)
Compassion literally means to feel with, to suffer with.
Everyone is capable of compassion, and yet everyone
tends to avoid it because it's uncomfortable. And the
avoidance produces psychic numbing -- resistance to
experiencing our pain for the world and other beings.
(Joanna Macy)
Compassion is the ultimate and most meaningful
embodiment of emotional maturity. It is through
compassion that a person achieves the highest peak
and deepest reach in his or her search for self-
fulfillment. --Arthur Jersild
KINDNESS
Kindness is the act or the state of being kind and
marked by charitable behaviour, marked by mild
disposition, pleasantness, tenderness and concern
for others. It is the quality of being warmhearted and
considerate and humane and sympathetic.
Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun
makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding,
mistrust, and hostility to evaporate. (Albert Schweitzer)
No kind action ever stops with itself. One kind action
leads to another. Good example is followed. A single
act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and
the roots spring up and make new trees. The greatest
work that kindness does to others is that it makes
them kind themselves. (Amelia Earhart)
When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not
only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it
helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace.
(The Dalai Lama)
Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in
thinking creates profundity. Kindness in giving creates
love. (LAO-Tse)
Kindness trumps greed: it asks for sharing. Kindness
trumps fear: it calls forth gratefulness and love.
Kindness trumps even stupidity, for with sharing and
love, one learns. (Marc Estrin)
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear
and the blind can see. (Mark Twain)
Wherever there is a human being, there is an
opportunity for a kindness. (Seneca)
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a
smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest
compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which
have the potential to turn a life around. (Leo
Buscaglia)
When there is an abundance of love and trust, fear
and doubt cannot exist.
Special thank you to Daniela Filimon, Dietetic Student
at Madonna University who compiled information for
this article and volunteers for Reconnect with Food at
Inner Door Center.
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Reconnect with Life Weekly Series, with Marie Fox,
LMSW, RYT begins
Wednesday, September 15th. Pre-registration
required and early bird price ends this
Wednesday.
Register here
Dialectic Behavioral Therapy series with Sharon
Jackson, MA, LPC, CAAC begins Tuesday, September
15th. Contact our office for more information or to
register.
Yoga-Based Professional Development
Program for Eating Disorder Recovery --in Jamaica--is
the place to
be in February 2010! Early bird price coming to an
end soon--mid-October.
Learn more and register now
Inner Door Center Comprehensive
Eating
Disorder Programs
Located in the eclectic and trendy town of Royal Oak,
MI. Ask about housing for those who live out of the
area.
A special thank you to Lesli Cohen of Living Free
Foundation for the generous donations to Prazamana
Foundation to assist those with partial
hospitalization, intensive outpatient and other
intensive programs.
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