Could Meditation Be The Key to Learning Compassion?

Recently the journal Psychological Science published a study by PhD student Helen Weng, which suggested that adults can learn how to be more compassionate by listening to meditation CDs, or repeating positive phrases such as ‘may you have joy and happiness’. This research focuses on how people can encourage and maintain positive thinking, and is the principle area of study for the Centre for Investigating Healthy Minds. This began after the 14th Dalai Lama had challenged a professor of meditation to study positive feelings, attitudes and behaviours in humans. Weng herself was able to present her research to the Dalai Lama.

 

The study was developed after the researchers had observed Buddhist monks practicing compassion meditation, and found that their brain patterns differed significantly from normal people. It was then suggested that if a regular person could feel the benefits of compassion meditation within a short period of time, this could provide a useful form of therapy and behavioural change, as well as improving general mental wellness.

 

The meditation works by attempting to evoke compassion. Usually, the meditation is done with someone who you love and care about. You imagine a time where they might be suffering or in pain, and then you repeat compassionate phrases wishing them to be free of suffering. This is then done to the self, imagining a time when you were or might be in pain, and repeating the phrases to yourself. Weng stated that a lot of people can be harsh on themselves, and then self-compassion is a useful and important way to boost self-esteem and confidence. This is done a third time to a real or imagined stranger, and lastly is done to a person you dislike, which can be hardest of all.

 

In the study participants used meditation CDs online, and practiced compassionate meditation for two weeks, and found that those who practiced the meditation were far more compassionate, kind and forgiving than those who had not. Often positive emotions are ignored by modern research, but as such an important aspect of wellness, studies and investigations into feelings of compassion, forgiveness and generosity are becoming more and more popular.

Categories: compassion, meditation, positive thinking

Three Secrets to Strengthening Your Relationships

Is there a secret to building and strengthening your relationships? Whether it’s because of the pressure of a hard day, a bad situation, or even for no apparent reason at all, you can often push the people you care about away with your attitude. There’s a direct link between your emotional health and your relationship wellness, so how do you nurture your relationships? You look after your own wellbeing. That is not to say that you look out for number one; rather, you need to create a fertile ground for self-care, which will provide the building blocks for your important relationships.

 

Firstly, be authentic and real. You need to speak your truth, albeit without being hurtful to another person. In the words of Ambrose Bierce, ‘Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.’ Before being honest with someone, take a few deep breaths to feel calm and clear so that you will speak with greater thought and care, regardless of the message to be delivered. If you have a problem in your relationship, use a “kindness sandwich” to deliver your message – beginning and ending with something positive, but expressing the problem in between. For example, ‘I love hanging out with you. I would really appreciate it if you didn’t cancel at the last-minute. I think that would help both of us to feel less stressed.’

 

Next, be compassionate to yourself so that you can then be compassionate towards other. You’re always the hardest on yourself, but the overflow of your negativity can affect others too. If your child or a loved one made a mistake or fell short of expectations, would you be this hard on them? Of course not, so cut yourself some slack! Recognise who you really are, including strengths. No one is perfect, so if you are doing the best that you can, be kind to yourself. This has a way of being contagious, and opens space for others to do the same.

 

Finally, cultivate a disposition of curiosity and openness, rather than judgement. Judgment and criticism can be toxic to any relationship, and it is much more compelling and informative to listen carefully when someone is speaking to you. If you know your friend well, you might assume you know what he or she is going to say. However, if you remain open to the possibilities, you may find yourself surprised by the outcome.

Categories: compassion, openness, truth

How Can Meditation Improve Your Lifestyle?

Meditation is a practice which people have enjoyed for centuries, thanks to the many benefits it can offer you. A new study suggests that, alongside the health benefits it offers you such as reduced stress, it can also help people to become more compassionate. This type of research which focuses on the positive thinking of individuals has been the prime area of investigation for the Centre for Investigating Healthy Minds. The research, carried out by Helen Weng, looks at how meditation impacts the positive qualities in people, such as kindness, forgiveness and compassion. She states how her research was inspired by looking at how monks practice meditation and the different brain patterns of activity they have compared to people who don’t meditate.

 

Compassion meditation, an activity in itself, was practiced for thirty minutes every day for two weeks – this was in a variety of ways, from a guided CD or online. In order to measure the emotional changes, the participants underwent a brain scan before and after the two-week period. The practice helps people to increase their feelings of caring for people – initially you practice with someone you really love and care about, so that you can gauge how your mind reacts to these feelings. You then imagine a time when you were in pain or were suffering about something, so that you can practice feeling compassion for yourself. Over time, you learn to be less hard on yourself.

 

This study showed that people did result in being more compassionate when tested, showing that meditation can have a huge impact on your lifestyle and attitude. This practice is also great for calming your mind and alleviating stress. Often, people use meditation alongside yoga as a way of combining exercise with the calming effects it has on the mind – the deep breathing exercises can be performed at any time though, which make ideal exercises to rely on if you’re in a stressful situation.

Categories: compassion, meditation, Stress

Meditation Could Help You Become More Compassionate

Meditation has been used for centuries as a way of relaxing the body and mind, and relieving stress. It’s often associated with yoga, due to the peaceful effects on the body and the importance placed on unifying the mind with the physical relaxation of stretches and yoga poses. Recently, it’s been discovered that meditating every day can actually do wonders for other aspects of your mind, such as helping you to become more compassionate. Meditating can help with anxiety, pain and depression, as well as physical ailments, too. Studies have found that meditation can help to improve your emotional wellbeing, as well as your cognitive health, attention and cognitive control.

The study involved 39 participants who were analysed for an eight week period, during which they were randomly assigned meditation classes. Some of those groups were taught mindfulness meditation, whilst others were taught compassion meditation. Although meditation is used as an umbrella term, there are various techniques one can learn. After the study was complete, the participants were asked to complete a compassion test, which was a role play scenario in which the participant was unaware of. Researchers looked at how likely it was for the test subject to help the third person playing the ‘sufferer’, depending on whether they underwent taught meditation. They found that meditators were five times as likely to give up their seat for those they believed to be in need, compared to just 15 percent of those who didn’t engage in meditation.

Due to meditative techniques helping you to clear your mind, it makes sense that compassion will follow – when you are relaxed and stress-free, you’re more able to empathise with people and help others in need. Meditation can help you lead a calmer and more peaceful life, as well as aiding other elements of your lifestyle, such as helping to deal with anxiety, stress and physical complaints.

Meditation Could Help You Become More Compassionate

Categories: compassion, Helping, meditation, mind, physical, Stress