The What’s and How’s of Empathy
To be empathetic means we are able to connect and experience the nature of someone or something outside of ourselves. We could describe empathy as the ability to feel what another individual or group of people may be going through, or quite simply – we are able to put ourself in someone else’s shoes.
When we experience empathy we feel the urge to relieve hardship for other people, and when we do, we get a hit of happiness due to our connection with that person, or our empathetic nature towards them.
Let’s look at empathy in terms of the brain. The pre-frontal cortex is linked to our social behaviour, our ability to empathise and create positive relationships and also our ability to concentrate and focus. The pre-frontal cortex thrives on mindfulness activities, in fact 8-week mindfulness studies have shown that the grey matter in the pre-frontal cortex develops after practicing mindfulness and allows us to empathise deeply with others and to better cope with stress.
HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR EMPATHY
My first tip is to practice, practice, practice your mindfulness exercises! You can practice formally and informally throughout your day. Remember, every moment is an opportunity to be mindful!
Secondly, I suggest that you ‘check in’ with yourself on a daily basis. I often ask myself questions while I am interacting with others like:
‘Am I treating this person how I would want to be treated?’
‘Am I speaking to this person how I would like to be spoken to?’ and sometimes after my interactions at the end of the day I will ask myself:
‘Could I have been more empathetic in that situation?’ or
‘How could I have articulated myself differently for a better outcome?’
My last suggestion is that you begin, if you haven’t already, to create a strong image in your mind of the type of person you would like to be.
Imagine your ultimate self and how you are able to move through the natural ups and downs of life. How does your ideal self react to change? How does your ultimate self manage stress? How do you work towards growing your community into a happier, healthier and more empathetic one?
When we have a clear vision of where we want to get to, it is much easier to implement tools, such as mindfulness, into our daily routine that will assist us in achieving our goals.
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