On Being Compassionate...

“I hold in my heart as a gourd filled with love, ready to pour upon humanity.” – Jessica Powers

This past week I was studying compassion. It is a part of my continuing spiritual work; I am using the book The Cup of Our Life: A Guide for Spiritual Growth by: Joyce Rupp. It is a wonderful book that I have enjoyed working with. It is broken up into six weeks; on the fifth week is when compassion comes into play. One the first day the lesson was learning compassion. Compassion, I learned, is very demanding. For some people it is not easy to know and feel the hurt and pain of another. For some they can easily feel this. For both of these people compassion can be a heavy weight to bear. And sometimes we get so lost in ourselves that we forget to extend compassion to others. We must also make sure we are not giving compassion for our own egocentric needs. Compassion must be given lovingly, to ourselves and to others. Compassionate people, however, can often inspire other people to be compassionate.

Over the past week I was so concerned with giving my compassion to others that I had forgotten to give it to myself. I was neglecting taking care of myself and doing what is best for me. I have also been very lazy during this stay at home order, I was beginning to let myself go. I was eating when I felt bored, lounging around watching TV and putting off exercise. My mid section was beginning to expand. I was so intent on working on my mental strength I had forgotten to take care of my physical self. Anxiety about the unknown can do that to us. And I bet most of us are in that same position, none of us knows what the future of our country, our economy and our world holds. We are all lost souls stuck at home waiting for the people in power to tell us what to do next. In our own homes though, we have the ability to do what is best for us and our families. I have read about it, I have seen it, I have experienced it; compassion is all around us. But what is going to happen when this is all over is the real question.

In this time we must not forget to extend compassion to ourselves to keep from being lost. Remember to take care of yourself while you are taking care of others and take care of others so that you may grow in compassion, not to make you feel better as a person. I remind myself when I am lost on words of compassion to express towards another that I do not always have to be doing something in order to share my compassion. Sometimes people just need us to be there, to listen, to sit in silence, or to offer a nurturing hand gesture. For me the silence can be uncomfortable, but I have learned a valuable lesson this week. Do not let the silence extinguish your giving, embrace it and know that person receives your compassion wholly. “Each and every part of the whole has significance and worth.” – Joyce Rupp

“When we let compassion pour fourth generously from us instead of holding back with meager giving, it can be a powerful experience. We often receive more than we give.” – Joyce Rupp

This is another powerful statement from the author of the book. When we give compassion whole heartedly we often receive more than we give. To me that is a wonderful exchange, to get compassion we must give compassion. To me that also means I must not only give to others, but I must give to myself compassionately. I must not give all of my compassion to others and forget to give it to myself. During this week of compassion I took one night to take a relaxing bath. I filled the tub with warm water, bubbles and Epsom salts. For a little fun I also added some loose flower petals and buds those of lavender, rose and hibiscus. I lit a stress relief candle from Bath and Body Works and relaxed to the sound of my own breathing. There may have been a chilled glass of white wine as well <wink> You can use this as a weekly ritual to bring you back to reality, to remind yourself that you are also worthy of receiving compassion and that you can give it to yourself.

The last day of the week is one of reflection and integration. During this time I usually choose to paint a small picture, something that reminds me of that week’s topic and then I journal a little as a wrap up of the week. Below is what I painted for week five; The Cup of Compassion.

I painted this lilacs in honor of spring and the beginning of May. I learned that violet lilacs symbolize spirituality and blue lilacs symbolize happiness and tranquility. How fitting! 

On Saturday I was feeling really good about life. I had done a welcoming mat Pilates Zoom class with a friend of mine early in the morning for Pilates Day. I was tending to myself. On Sunday I knew I needed to extend my compassion lesson into this week. I woke up and was in a mood and not a good one. I knew I needed to take care of myself more. By Sunday I realized I had gone through a mixture of emotions, I bet most of us can relate to that right now. One day I was okay and everything was fine, then next day I am spiraling down a deep hole that seems to have no bottom. On the way down I experience different emotions from crying to anger to frustration. Then just as I’m spiraling with this range of emotions, which seems to have no end I finally find the bottom and there waiting for me like a welcoming friend is relief. I am able to calm down and remind myself that this is all temporary. Life has a bigger plan for me and I’ve got this. Everything is going to be okay, just when it seems like it’s not it will. On Monday I got up and did another mat Pilates class again with my girl friend who teaches down in Florida. I followed along as she led another amazing Zoom class that left me feeling energetic and good about the day. I carried that feeling with me into today when I got up and did a 40 minute Yoga Kiss routine with Adriene and I carry that feeling as I sit here and write this to you from my computer.

Find things that feel good to you, but when extending compassion do it whole heartedly for that other person, do it for them not for you and you will receive more than you give. Below I have attached the video for the yoga routine with Adriene. This is my gift to you; receive it, accept it as you may and do with it as you will.

"Anyone who gives anything to the Divine will find that it comes back to them turned to gold." - Rumi

Namaste my friends!

Enjoy the rest of your day,

See you on the mat!

Xo

P.S. I am working on something for those of you who maybe sitting at your desks part of the day or most of the day working and just need a break. Keep an eye out for that post in the next coming weeks. J