Empathy has become a really hot word in my field and in our common practices as medical and educational professionals. Brene Brown and her team did a wonderful short explanation on empathy and you can watch it here. It resonates strongly with me, and I have found it helpful in discussing empathy with professionals and students. Empathy is ‘feeling with people’ and there is no better way that I can connect with someone than feeling WITH someone.
My colleague Leah and I recently did a podcast (Hey, follow us on Instagram @reframeyourbrain !) on active listening, and I found myself tying in empathy into the mix, and it became clear to me that these active and cognitively complex abilities are lifelong processes of learning and establishing habits of relating better to those around us. It also requires us to become vulnerable and real, something that can be quite uncomfortable and unfamiliar if we have been trained to be automatic, smart, quick to reply, and quick to offer information.
At the end of teaching a class the other morning (I teach a few different formats of Les Mills classes- some of the best fitness classes ever!) I had a really clear emotional wave hit me. I was co-teaching and my fellow instructor was coaching through the moves so I just had a chance to sit in that moment and be present for myself; to be vulnerable sitting with my emotions. I feel like so much of the world today is focused on blasting out of silence so that you aren’t thinking or feeling thoughts about sadness, loneliness, or discomfort. The world tells you to be strong, be positive, look on the bright side, cheer up! it’s not that bad…etc, etc, etc. What has happened to honoring the tough moments, and sitting with people through these moments?
More recently I have had an appreciation for honoring the range of emotions and also honoring my own range of emotions. I felt waves of emotions in those moments of class, including sadness, overwhelm, gratitude, vulnerability, and solitude. I had very vivid memories of loved ones I have lost in the past (love always remembers) and I took those few minutes to be with those feelings- to sit with them and let them be present with me. I spend much of my life in a positive and energetic state and sitting with those emotions felt uncomfortable, yet necessary.
The more I learn to sit with those emotions when they wash over me, instead of pushing them aside, the better I am getting at relating to others and sitting with them in whatever phase of life they are in. It also has allowed me to more efficiently process my own life journey so that I can find alignment and sit presently at the table when I sit down with a family, patient, or client. It is only by the process of aligning myself and creating that space to align that I am able to do this important and sacred work. This is far more complex than I ever knew; and I am still learning to this day.
I am running a FREE 5 day Inspired alignment challenge, starting January 2- It is full but you can still sign up and be put on the wait list (if someone decides not to complete the challenge you are in!). You can sign up here and I am SO looking forward to us growing through this challenge together!
Peace, Love, & Gratitude
Danielle
Piece of Mind Therapy and Consulting 