Webster's Dictionary defines empathy as the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objective explicit manner. Sounds deep? It is.
Empathy is a way of connecting with someone else mind to mind, heart to heart and soul to soul. Although quite subjective, empathy allows you to "know" some aspect of the other's experience and understand to some degree the effects of the other's experience to the point that it can potentially cause you to extend a helping hand.
When you empathize with someone you place yourself in a mental, emotional and spiritual mode that is ideal for problem solving. Your mind begins to search for possible solutions and imagines ideal outcomes. Your emotions feel the other person's pain, anguish or concerns and builds a desire to help them overcome those challenges as if it were you going through the pain, anguish and concerns. Your spirit calls out to the Universe for help and guidance and may even become a sort of channel so that Universal energy can flow through you to them.
"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around."
-- Leo Buscaglia
When you empathize with someone in need or going through a challenging time, there are many things you can do to extend a helping hand such as
* You can be a sounding board so that they can express their fears, pain and concerns. This alone can make someone feel better. When you allow someone to speak out freely and safely they often discover solutions to their problem(s).
* You can say words of encouragement or share affirmations with them that will help them shift their attitude and perspective from a negative to a positive such as Emile Coue's "Every day in every way I will get better and better."
* You can pray with them and remind them of the power of prayer.
* You can teach them how to relax deeply by guiding them into a "Deep Relaxation." You can also make a recording of the "Deep Relaxation" exercise for them, and have them listen to it once, twice or three times a day. The " Foundation for Positive Change " MicroCourse has instructions on how to record an exercise for yourself or someone else.
* You can help them to create a mental picture of an ideal outcome so that they can meditate on that mental picture during their daily meditations or when they feel stressed out.
* You can encourage them to seek professional help and support them along the way.
However you express empathy for someone else, one thing still holds true, what goes around comes around. You may be surprised at the rewards you receive by simply extending your hand and helping someone in need.
"Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end."
-- Scott Adams
Laura Silva Quesada is the daughter of Jose Silva, founder of the original Silva Mind Control. She has authored the book For Parents Only and guides people through the mental exercises in the tape series on the Silva Method. She also is the star of The Silva Method in Action video and more recently one of the authors of the Universal Mind Power audio tape program. Today, Laura is responsible for the MindBiz, LLC Product Development and Communications. She is involved in continuing research that unites the best and most useful of the concepts behind our original Mind Development programs with the latest findings from studies on the Human Mind, Intuition, Alternative Health Care, NLP, and Spirituality. She acts as the communications point for our Client and Affiliate network and is aggressively developing new and exciting programs for our Internet site and Product Store.
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