Overview
- Attending (noticing someone’s distress)
- Understanding (making sense of what they might be experiencing)
- Empathizing (feeling with them)
- Helping (taking action to support them).
Think about a time (either in your personal life, work, or school) when you either gave or received compassion. Reflect on the experience using the four elements.
- What was the situation?
- How were each of the four elements present (or missing)?
- How did it feel to experience or extend compassion?
- What did you learn about yourself, or about compassion in practice?