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I started to write a while ago but just found it sitting here. I have used that meditation, Priyanka, and thank you for it. I really need to be doing more and more. I was just going to pop in to say hello. I saw a moose the other day and was very excited and there are two beavers down the road who I watch almost every night. Those are the highlights of my life right now. I hope all are well.

I have recently learned that empathy is the identifying with the feelings of others, while compassion is being called to help. This has helped me reframe compassion for both myself and for others. Viewing compassion as something actionable has made it more concrete for me. I, like @Gillian Sanger am regularly drawn to metta and tonglen styles of meditation. In both, the concepts of helping, wishing, meditating in the interest of increasing the well being of others is, to me, the action of compassion. I also really like the self-compassion work of Kristin Neff, who taught me about the shared humanity of suffering during a very fragile and difficult time in my life. The idea that self compassion can be the tiny act of placing a hand on your heart or holding your own hand to alleviate your own suffering shifted things for me. When I am feeling self critical or shaming myself, those things continue to bring. me some small places of ease. Lastly, I heard Pema Chodron speak of something in a recent interview called Compassionate Abiding. You can take a listen to the conversation (I have listened 4 times!) at the link below. Tami Simon from SoundsTrue is a wonderful interviewer. I learned so much from this podcast and use compassionate abiding daily. https://resources.soundstrue.com/podcast/pema-chodron-compassionate-abiding/

I am new to the mindfulness concept but in a short time I have seen it start to change my way of thinking. A lot of the time I feel my mind is racing from one thing to another and it can be exhausting. Sometimes iT makes it difficult to sleep. I would like to get better control over my thoughts and emotions.John

Nature is my salvation and the only thing that keeps me sane because truly (not looking for pity here) the rest is not great. The road is loud although beautiful and I stressed out so much trying to move from my city of 46 years that I did not see all that is wrong with the house. Too long to go into. I think moving to someplace peaceful with a few acres is an excellent idea which you will love. i will have to look up Ross island. I have a friend in India who was sending me pictures of the peacocks but they were not roaming rural areas but the city streets as well as the deer. Before that when people were still out and about she sent me a photo of a cow eating the dog's food-meat of all things. You will love living in nature I think. I may have moved to the wrong place-not sure about the state yet, it is a mixed bag-but i drive home seeing mountains and seeing the occasional wild animal. I do have raccoons who come to my house every day. Cheeky little beings they are. If you find a tree that looks right try giving it a hug. it is a lovely feeling.

This week's question asks: How do you practice compassion? There are infinite ways to practice compassion. Some methods are inward (i.e. metta meditation) while others are tangible (i.e. listening with an open heart/mindful communication). If you have any favourite practices, let us know or share a link to what helps you to cultivate greater compassion.

I love the idea of compassion and aspire to be a truly compassionate being. Learning self compassion has made a great deal of difference for me in my every day life and I could not have gotten this far on my self growth journey without putting it into practice, and often. Giving to others and being generous and helpfulI is something I deeply enjoy doing and look forward to finding opportunities to do so. However, I do struggle with the non-judgemental aspect of it. I can show kindness and generosity and help others and be glad to do so, but not without a brief moment of judgement crossing my mind. And something I find extremely curious about myself (and I assume in some way is related to my ego) is that it feels more natural and less judgmental on my end, to help strangers or acquaintances than people that are close to me.

I really liked that quote. Seems to be a great reminder for the current state of the world. Found it to be grounding. ‘It takes more than mindfulness’ really resonates with me. I try to be thoughtful and intentional but never thought of delving Into mindfulness in this manner. Would also be interested in hearing some examples of what falls into domain. I think of limiting tv watching or having more quiet time but I’m not really sure...& I think there is more. Thanks for sharing.

Hello Jo L, I have designed my own workshop Positive Mind Meditation at my office, and throughout the past 4 years, I have had companies contact me to come and do a talk about meditation. They got my contact information (word of mouth )from employee's that have attended my workshop at my office.

I recently joined this community, but I am unable to download resources? Could someone please advise? Thank you

Hello to the community! I am very grateful for the email from Sean containing the shares about mindfulness and more! In particular, for me today, I am drawn to Sampajanna and it’s parallel relationship to mindfulness. I see clearly that in pausing for 20-30 minutes to read the entire email and visit each one of the links, my day is enriched! Thank you, Sean!

Beautiful offerings Rachel - thank you! Yes, even just placing a hand on our own hearts is deeply nourishing. Even if it doesn't take away the pain or suffering of our experience, its a gesture that says, 'It's okay. I'm here for you.' Similarly, something I try to practice when I get caught in streams of negative thoughts or difficult emotions, is to speak to these energy currents with care - to let them know it's okay that they are present. It makes me think of Brach's work on radical acceptance - opening our hearts to everything about our experience without judging or condemning them - and without having to act upon them.

Yes! That is the intent. However, I found that once I really got into it (beyond the 30 days), there was a flow to just doing the daily prompts. I realized that much of my 'work' was related to a few core things that were related, and that my daily entries continued to speak to that ongoing growth and attention. In other words, I like to use the daily prompts without a '30 day-time's up' mentality, and just meander through the days as opposed to feeling like I should have a hard finish. That said, I do reread my entries every 20 or so and reflect. Hope this is helpful!

@Gillian Sanger- I am so happy that you found resonance with the future self journaling practice! Wonderful! My affirmation for today: I am able to make space for whatever comes up for me today.

Q.) How does it feel to put your full attention on one breath? It feels very focused, very present. Q.) How does this practice impact your state of mind? For me, it's calming, which I LOVE!!

Today I started a 'journaling for my future self' practice (referred to me by @Rachel) and my affirmation was: I am radiant, energized, and inspired. Here's a link to the exercise: https://yourholisticpsychologist.com/future-self-journaling/

Hi my name is Karen and I have joined this wonderful site to gain soom resources to help me with my new job as a co facilitator working at a recovey college which offers courses relating to mental health for free to anyone wishing to learn new tools or meet new people who will be able to help them wihtin their journey. I am currently creatig a yoga, mindfulness & meditation course with another person which will be begining to be held at the college for term 4 this year.

Thank you! I just started this this morning Maybe you can clarify for me though - I guess the idea is to do 'Step 2' for 30 days (or until a change is observed)?

Hi Leanne, I'm a psychologist so very familiar with the exciting world of child psychology. I recommend the book "The Psychology of the Child" by Jean Piaget, which is a classic. It's not necessarily 'fun' to read and is pretty dense, but is full of fascinating information about child development; intellectual, emotional, and social aspects of child development. There's also "How to Talk so Kids Will Listen...And Listen So Kids Will Talk" by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish, which is a practical and helpful book. If you're looking for books about childhood mental illness, there's "Disorders of Childhood: Development and Psychopathology' by Robin Hornik Parritz or "Case Studies in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology" by DeDe Wohlfarth. Also, a helpful book is "Creative Interventions for Troubled Children and Youth" by Liana Lowenstein and a really comprehensive book about how trauma affects kids and people at any age called "The Body Keeps the Score" by Bessel van der Kolk.

Hi Karen, Welcome! What a cool job and fun course to create! I'm a psychologist, life and wellness coach, meditation and yoga teacher. I'm wondering if you are looking for specific ideas or resources?

Gillian, I can't thank you enough for your helpful advice and suggestions! I checked out some of the sites you recommended and can't wait to dig in deeper. Other than our names, it is so ironic that you recommended that book to me, because my best friend who is on a similar self growth journey as I am, is reading that and just recommended it to me as well! I am so grateful to have come across this website. In addition to all of the incredible resources it has to offer, I feel a special connection and appreciation for the informative conversations I have had with you. Thanks again for everything! Enjoy your wknd and Happy 4th of July!

Yes! Dr, Nicole LaPera. Below is a link to the future self journal information and prompts. https://yourholisticpsychologist.com/future-self-journaling/

Way to go. Keep up the great work of being present feeling and not judging.

I am strong and will take each hour with acceptance