At its root, compassion is a wish to lessen the suffering of all beings. To practice compassion we need to be more — not less —aware of suffering as it actually exists. At first, increasing one's awareness of suffering can create the illusion that suffering itself has increased, and in ways we may suffer more through this illusion. As such, moving toward self-compassion can be extremely challenging. And we may already be depleted or low-resourced by a chaotic and unjust world. Yet, as we get more practiced with self-compassion, we can perhaps also get more access to positive feelings of pride, relief, calm, liberation, renewed trust, hope, gratitude, and curiosity. What does practicing self-compassion feel like to you?
[image description: A heart holds a single rose in its mouth as it skates around in spin, one leg up, hands over head, around an ice rink. Off to the side, three hearts behind a table each hold up a sign with a 10 on it. Text reads: "How I feel when I do self-compassion."]
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