|
Don’t Turn Away From Suffering
March 11, 2022
|
|
First, From the Heart
In belonging to each other, we find comfort and wisdom. In community, we are surrounded with care and support. It’s so hard to sustain our open hearts as we witness war and the suffering of humanity from all corners of the globe. Alone, we may feel overwhelm, anger, despair, and helplessness. But together we hold each other up with compassion and love.
As leaders, we can encourage the conversations that are hard, especially in these relentlessly difficult times. It’s our responsibility to activate a shared vision and purpose, so our teams feel connected and engaged as they contribute to the larger agenda. That sense of connection, of community, is how we move individually and collectively through the most difficult days.
The circle of care in which we hold each other is the essence of life itself. Allow your circle to channel the power of love and be ever expansive. As we show up present to all that is – the joy and suffering – we discover there is even more capacity for compassion in our hearts.
Peace,
Laura
PS, We have three new scholarships available for training leaders in the fields of humanitarian support, conflict resolution/peace-making, international development, or at related NGOs working to end war and suffering. You can find more info here.
|
|
|
Practice Matters
What If We Felt Safe?
The question has come up again and again. How would life and the world be different if we all felt safe? What if the separation and fear that inhabits all of us, on some level, was somehow transmuted into connection and love?
When I stand at the doorway of a choice point – reactive or responsive – it distills down to “Am I feeling safe or fearful?” Despite my best intentions, reactive moments arise. I am human, after all, and this is part of our innate wiring.
Moving from a sense of safety and interconnection, however, is the response that brings more peace and joy. Yes, it takes cultivating attention and practice. And hell yes, it takes courageous action – not only to recognize and name the fear, but to conquer it with wholeheartedness.
When can we practice? Always!
If you'd like to explore additional Practice Matters, you can find them here.
|
|
|
Last Call - Program Begins Next Week
Compassionate Leadership and Resilience Training Spring Cohorts
Our eight-week collaborative learning journey is based on decades of leadership experience and wisdom practice, coupled with emerging scientific and organizational evidence. Hundreds of program alumni are positively impacting the world in remarkable ways!
“This course was an incredibly enriching experience. I especially enjoyed the deep connection we cultivated as a group which created a safe space for us to share our individual experiences and unique perspectives/challenges. It was a transformative eight weeks that left me feeling inspired and ready to lead with compassion, both personally and professionally.”
-- Global Non-Profit Executive, Fall 2020 Cohort
One cohort is geared to an interdisciplinary audience of leaders in for-profit and non-profit organizations. The second cohort is specifically focused for leaders in the field of global health. Whichever cohort is aligned with your mission, you will be surrounded by an accomplished peer group of like-minded colleagues from around the world. Learn more about the interdisciplinary course here, and global health here.
|
|
|
Three New Scholarships Now Available
Are you ready to put your compassion into action in response to the crisis in the Ukraine? Three new scholarships are now available for the compassionate leadership training that is urgently needed in our world today.
Are you a leader in the fields of humanitarian support, global health, conflict resolution/peace-making, government, international development, or at a related NGO working to end conflict, war, and suffering? We welcome you to apply now for an eight-week online Compassionate Leadership and Resilience Training beginning March 15 with compassionate colleagues from around the world.
You can find more information and our application here.
|
|
|
|
Join an experiential four-week online journey beginning April 21 to deepen your compassion skills. This series, led by Laura Banks, condenses components of Compassion Institute’s 8-wk Compassion Cultivation Training© course developed at Stanford CCARE. Together we grow our understanding of compassion through evidence-based research, interactive exercises, and group discussion. Register now.
|
|
|
Best of the Blog
Acceptance and Change
As the pace of positive change around the world accelerates, so does the level of challenge humanity is facing. It is tempting to want to put one’s head in the sand and hope that this will all go away. Or maybe the temptation is to become filled with rage and lash out with anger and hostility. Neither extreme takes us anywhere particularly helpful. What can we skillfully choose to make a constructive difference? Read more.
|
|
|
Research Worth Sharing
Development and Psychometric Properties of the Sussex-Oxford Compassion Scales (SOCS)
by Jenny Gu, Ruth Baer, Kate Cavanagh, Willem Kuyken, and Clara Strauss
in Assessment 27, no. 1 (2020): 3-20.
The Sussex Oxford Compassion Scales, with twenty questions for self-compassion and twenty questions for compassion for others, provide a valuable tool to assess the causes, correlates, and consequences of compassion. The scales use a five dimension definition of compassion and provide sub-scale measures for each of those individual components of compassion. Read the research.
|
|
|
|
|
