Compassion and Empathy
Compassion and empathy may be related, but have very different neurological effects. As a bodyworker I can choose to be compassionate with my clients story or I can choose to have empathy. When I have compassion at the end of a session, I feel a sense of well being. But when feeling empathy, I can be more challenged because I am lighting up the pain center in my own brain. One of the articles “Empathy for Pain Involves the Affective but not the Sensory Components of Pain” by neuroscientist Tania Singer, et. al, which focused on empathy and compassion
With empathy we are adding pain to pain. Neuroscience is “the investigation of structure and function in the brain providing insights into the mechanisms of human emotions and actions” as defined by the Fetzer Institute. Recent research has shown a clear distinction between compassion and empathy.
Chris Kukk, PhD professor of political science at Western Connecticut State University clarifies the distinction between empathy and compassion. as “feeling kindness towards another person..and about querying a 360 degree understanding of the suffering or problem that a persona is experiencing and taking action to resolve it.
“Compassion is a two-step process of understanding and acting but empathy is only a one-step process and it is about emotionally absorbing the feelings of another”. I was told I was an empath, so on this level this information has truly aided me in my own journey.
He also explains that compassion “creates the release of the peptide hormone oxytocin, which then activated the neurotransmitters of dopamine (brain reward) and serotonin (anxiety reduction) contributing to happiness and optimism. These are the same neuronal pathways as love.”
At the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, has used MRI scanners to show that compassion and empathy “are two different phenomena associated with different brain activity patterns.
“When we think compassionately we “light up” the same regions of the brain as LOVE but empathetic thinking lights up regions associated with pain”..Tania Singer
To feel empathy I must find the place in me that resonates with your story . We instinctively identify with what a client is going through, and put our own emotions into it, often without realizing it. This is what happens with empathy, we identify with the persons situation and personalize it to our own selves, which then light up our pain centers. Since our electromagnetic fields can resonate up to 3-15 feet, we truly are impacting each other.
Now on an energetic level, how is being in the same frequency, vibration healing? Or is this just resonating with what is and amplifying that frequency which then makes it harder to shift, for them or myself?
One practice that can strengthen our ability to be compassionate is to choose a loving thought over a fearful or painful one. This is possible even in some of the most tragic circumstances. I use this practice when I notice an energy drain with someone. In that moment I can realize I am adding to what is already there, amplifying it even more. Is this really what I want to do?
If not, I truly self-activate a loving feeling. I ask my own heart what is needed here to elevate my own vibration? Knowing that my own electromagnetic field has the capacity to shift theirs. This is truly research based by the Institute of HeartMath.
So, as we go about our days in this fast paced ever changing world which is causing so many to go into overwhelm, fear, anxiety or just being so drained at the end of the day, will you choose to make the shift from within to truly help others around you to make it possible for them to shift? The frequencies of compassion and LOVE are powerful indeed!
