Compassion is a circuit within us. When we fulfill the compassion circuit, we have energy. In a state of compassion we can think with clarity and focus and have capacity for relevant action. It’s not just for extreme situations, this circuit is for every day living.
Empathy is the sensation that initiates the circuit ( empathy is feeling for another this means joy, anger, confusion - not only pain). Empathy has two pathways, it can move along the compassion circuit or along a codependency circuit. The codependency circuit runs more like a treadmill. It requires energy, depleting our reserves and impeding our ability to think and feel clearly. From this place our actions rarely address authentic needs but instead aim to control various situations and scenarios (usually, not joyfully).
In a state of compassion it’s hard to separate us from each other, in a state of codependence it’s rather easy. In a state of compassion we have access to our fullness and the full experience of life, aware of the inherent risks. In a state of codependency we are always seeking a sense of complete safety that does not exist.
When we experience sensations of codependent empathetic activation, we might feel a prompting to hurry towards a solution or to “finish” a feeling. We may be distracted and feel a lack of presence. Maybe we become overly focused on a problem or we bypass the problem entirely. Whatever the case there is a sense of anxiety beneath our actions.
One simple way to disrupt this process and rejoin the compassion circuit is to take a moment between tasks. A literal breath, maybe place your hand on your heart. Take a breath and say clearly to yourself what task you are setting down and which you are picking up. This little moment allows your breath, body, and mind an opportunity to realign. The more our breath, body, and mind remain interwoven, the greater our ability to stay on the compassion circuit. This circuit organically supports our individual and collective wellbeing.