A Lesson In Empathy

11th January 2015

 

By Lissa Rankin MD

 

Guest Writer for Wake Up World

 

The woman in front of you in the grocery store line just lost her mother after a nine year battle with cancer.

 

Your boss just found out his wife is having an affair.

 

The other mother you ran into in the schoolyard just found out her daughter has a brain tumor.

 

The Starbucks barista who has been schlepping espresso to fund her dream just found out the book she spent five years writing got rejected by yet another publisher.

 

The young boy acting out in the restaurant just found out Daddy is going to war.

 

The woman who cut you off in traffic just filed for divorce from her abusive husband.

 

The waiter who forgot to bring you extra salad dressing just lost his son in a car accident.

 

As Rev. John Watson said, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle”.

 

Life Is Brutal

 

I was dancing at Sweat Your Prayers in Sausalito, and our dance leader said, “Every man in this room is holding something heavy on his heart right now- some loss, some grief, some disappointment, some wound.” He invited the men to step into the center of the room while the women formed a circle around the men. He then played beautiful soulful music and invited the men to dance their grief.  If they felt they needed support, he invited them to hold their hands in a circle over their hearts, which would be an invitation to the women in the room. If a woman saw a man with his hands over his heart, she was to silently rest her forehead on his back and breathe three breaths of love and support into his heart.

 

Tears streamed down the face of almost every man in the circle as they danced and women they didn’t know supported them in silence.

 

After the men danced, the women were invited into the center of the circle and the men encircled the woman as we danced our own loss and the men breathed into our hearts.

 

I was so moved by the experience I could barely breathe by the time it was done. The soul connection that arose between the men and women on the dance floor was palpable. We were all hugging and leaning on one another by the time Sweat Your Prayers ended. Nobody felt alone anymore. It was a great reminder that everyone is grieving about something right this second.

 

CONTINUE READING:

 

Previous articles by Lissa Rankin MD:

 

• Are You “Spiritual But Not Religious?”
• I Beg You To Quit Pretending
• What Is Shamanism?
• 9 Practical Tips to Help You Find Your Calling
• Are You Committed To Your Soul’s Integrity?
• Will You Practice Judgment Or Compassion?
• 10 Fun Ways to Reduce Your Cortisol Levels
• 6 Stories To Make You Believe In The Power Of The Mind To Heal You
• A Radical Way To Grow Spiritually In A Relationship
• 7 Tips For Finding Your Tribe
• 10 Surprising Things That Trigger “Fight-Or-Flight”
• The Difference Between Judgment and Discernment

 

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