Giving and Receiving Compassion

Whether it’s Hanukkah, Christmas, or the Chinese New Year, we focus on giving as a celebration of love and belonging.

As we immerse ourselves in this ocean of giving, it’s important that we allow the waves of generosity to flow inward as well as outward. When we express gratitude to those we love, we can also appreciate ourselves.  When we show compassion toward the suffering of others, our hearts can also soften in response to our own pain. 

Some people mistakenly believe that they should deny themselves in order to serve others. But compassion is not a zero-sum game. The more compassion we give ourselves, the more resources we have available to give to all.

The sign of an open heart is the lack of felt separation.  Every conscious being is worthy of love, care, and kindness – including ourselves. When we recognize this, everyone is included in the circle of compassion.

I’m including a guided meditation called Giving and Receiving Compassion.  We focus on breathing in and out as a metaphor for the natural inward and outward flow of care.

I’d also like you to consider giving to a cause that’s near and dear to my heart – supporting the ability of all people to receive the gift of self-compassion.

Over ten years ago my friend and colleague Chris Germer and I founded the nonprofit Center for Mindful Self-Compassion (CMSC). In addition to offering teacher training for those who want to teach MSC, we offer a variety of programs directly to individuals such as the 10-week Live Online Mindful Self-Compassion program, the Self-Compassion for Healthcare Communities program, MSC for teens, and much more.

We have now trained thousands of MSC teachers around the globe, and hundreds of thousands have learned how to be more self-compassionate through our programs.

CMSC has established a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) Committee to ensure self-compassion is accessible to under-represented people everywhere. 

I hope you consider giving to CMSC. Your gift will support our programs and a portion will be used for our scholarship fund. This means that many people who would not otherwise be able to attend a self-compassion program or training can do so.

Self-compassion changes lives. If you feel moved to give the gift of self-compassion to others, please donate today.