COMPASSION AND THE PATH OF SELF-STUDY 📖

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines compassion as “sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it.”

When I extend this definition to self-compassion, I think about the ability to be sympathetically conscious of yourself and your inner world—to see and allow your own distress—and, maybe most importantly, to have a desire to alleviate it.

For most of us, none of this is simple or happens automatically. To be sympathetic toward yourself, to have consciousness of your “inner anatomy,” takes work, reflection, and self-study. 

The ability to develop witness consciousness (to observe the activity of the mind without judgment) is at the core of Kripalu Yoga practice. One of Swami Kripalu’s most well-known quotes is “The highest spiritual practice is self-observation without judgment.”

I have been practicing Kripalu Yoga for more than 21 years, and am now honored and privileged to be a teacher of Kripalu Vinyasa. I am a “forever student”—I love to dive deep into whatever is lighting me up at the moment. There is one thing, though, that is a constant source of inspiration for learning: myself. 

One of the reasons I practice yoga (on and off the mat) is for svadhyaya (self-study). I have found the curriculum for this topic to be infinite.

I now feel quite confident in my ability to be sympathetically conscious of myself; I am intimately familiar with my distress.

I know when I am triggered. I know what it feels and looks like in my body, what thoughts might be swirling around my head, what words might be coming out of my mouth.

But what do I do with this knowledge? And, maybe most importantly, given the working definition of self-compassion, do I want to do anything about it? Do I have the desire to alleviate it?

Want to read more? Head over to Kripalu’s website where this is published …