Witness or Shift? Karuna Compassion

Very often in our work environment, and daily life in general, we find ourselves stewing or venting over something.  When you realize you might be doing that, stewing, venting, or otherwise, take a moment to reflect and ask yourself,

“Self?”, “What is it I really need right now?”, 

“Do I just need someone to witness me in what I’m going through?

Or, do I need someone who can see this experience from a different perspective and possibly assist me in shifting out of this mode (stewing/venting/etc). “

Have you ever heard of Karuna Compassion?

Karuna Compassion stems from Buddhist tradition and is something I’ve been exploring and practicing since the beginning of this year; not as a New Year’s resolution, it just happened to come into my awareness at that time. When we see others suffering, there are times when we can take action to help alleviate the suffering and, many times, there is limited or no action we can take.  In those situations, the most loving and compassionate thing we do is manage our own energy with the intention of uplifting “…from our own place of strength and clarity and alignment.” (to quote Abraham Hicks)

You can apply this in your daily life by holding space, Karuna Compassion, for others who need to be witnessed.  Folks don’t always recognize they need to be witnessed and that can manifest as them complaining about a situation or gossiping about others when, if they had someone who could just hold space for them while staying in a place of strength and clarity and alignment (not dipping into and participating in the venting or gossip) it could make all the difference AND possibly help them to shift out of the suffering they are experiencing.

When you become conscious of, and intentionally use, Witness or shift? Karuna Compassion, for yourself, you can then approach another person whom you trust and let them know, “Hey, I need someone to witness me in what I’m going through, can I share this with you?”  and they can hold space for you, Karuna Compassion, by just listening and not participating in negative or heavy discussion regarding your situation, Just witnessing your experience.  This also provides you with an opportunity to approach a person you trust and say, “Hey, I’m going through this situation and I think there may be other ways of looking at it that would make me feel better (relieve suffering), if I share it with you, can you offer suggestions that might help shift this for me?”  In which case then the listener holds space, Karuna Compassion, while they listen and then offer reflections or feedback that may help you to see the situation differently or process some of the emotions without participating in or getting tangled up in the situation themselves. 

 Practice awareness of Witness or Shift + Karuna Compassion with yourself, your patients, your family, friends, and so on!   And remember, it’s an awareness PRACTICE – not an awareness perfection.

Enjoy the expansion, my friends! ✨️