The importance of compassion

Compassion belongs to us and animates us, a protective and preventive antidote to face suffering and can be trained with scientifically tested exercises and protocols. For about 30 years the subject of research with much scientific evidence supporting the physical, emotional and cognitive benefits in those who receive it and in those who practice it. While there is no single definition of compassion, it can be described as an empathic predisposition and sensitivity to perceive one’s own and others’ suffering followed by a desire to act to alleviate and prevent it. The desire to alleviate pain and suffering belongs to us at an evolutionary level: our brains are wired to face the main challenges of defense, survival and care of the offspring.

We are equipped with an innate affective system of affiliation and care, on which empathy and compassion depend. Caring for and taking care means caring for someone, welcoming their needs, feeling their suffering and wanting to relieve it: the mother who hears her baby’s cry, the friend who listens, the caregiver who takes care of her loved one, the doctor who heals, they become compassionate skills when supported by presence and awareness. In particular, research confirms that people working in the health sector are more at risk because of the greater sensitivity to perceive and empathically feel the suffering of patients.

Inattention, indifference and error are caused by a high level of compassion fatigue, a type of emotional exhaustion with symptoms similar to a post-traumatic stress disorder (nightmares, emotional changes, cognitive discomfort), as well as a decrease in the sense of security, an increase in cynicism and relational disconnection with people. The weak point seems to be in the lack of awareness of recognizing oneself as in need of care. So how to feel the pain of others without being overwhelmed, how to ensure emotional and professional availability without exhausting your resources, how to transform your work into satisfaction from compassion to feel happy, vital and grateful to be able to help and make a difference in the world ? Practice the Self Compassion to become compassionate with oneself, to respond to suffering in a nurturing and caring way with kindness, tenderness and loving awareness. A natural way to better manage emotions, decrease anxiety and depression, calm down and comfort yourself, avoid being drained of helping and learn to hold yourself in a loving embrace in order to be of support and comfort to others. Because it is not a habit to be compassionate, not a weakness and a vulnerability, not a fashion but, on the contrary, an intelligent opportunity for a better life, to generate good and solid relationships, to stimulate a social culture of well-being and prosperity.