Compassion-It may save your Life

Compassion give it a try it may save your life!

Anne Frank “no one ever became poor by giving”

 

One of the great things about writing a book is the research you have to do and the byways and high ways it leads you to. As I continue my research for my book Daughters I am delving into philosophy and life issues. One of the interesting and poignant things I have researched lately is that about compassion.

James Doty has researched compassion for many years in the USA at Stanford University and his findings are astounding really in that they open up this quasi-religious behaviour into a essential that is not only vital for us but also will help us in our wellbeing and happiness.

·         We evolved to be compassionate inside our community.

·         Sharing with someone is sometimes the most compassionate thing you can do.

·         We have lost that sense of community in the modern world and so we are in a continual state of anxiety, leading to negative reactions and a loss of compassion. We continually put on a mask to hide our fears.

·         Compassion is opening up the heart, it is getting rid of the mask and trusting.

·         Compassionate behaviour reduces your stress levels and boost your immune system.

·         Volunteers (a form of compassion) over the age of sixty live twice as long as non-volunteers.

·         Compassionate acts act on the body like food and procreation (sex) they stimulate endorphin production and create pleasure.

·         Only real compassion has positive effect if you are faking it, guess what it does not work.

Compassion; deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it...Online Dictionary.

"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.

If you want to be happy, practice compassion."

–– His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Sources:
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/allinthemind/the-science-of-compassion/4405514 ABC Radio Transcript of interview with Dr Doty.

http://ccare.stanford.edu/aboutus/ccare