The Importance Of Practicing Mindfulness And Compassion Together
In the Buddhist tradition, Mindfulness and compassion are considered the two wings of the bird of wisdom and it is thought that both are essential to be able to fly, which is why they are practiced together and reinforce each other.
To practice compassion, mindfulness is necessary, because we have to be able to become aware of our own suffering and that of others, without judgment, attachment or rejection, to feel compassion towards the person who suffers.
But, above all, to carry out compassion practices, you need minimum levels of attention that are obtained with the practice of mindfulness (García Campayo and Demarzo, 2015). Some of the first compassion practices, such as mindfulness in compassionate breathing and compassionate body scanaim to develop mindfulness and reduce mind wandering, while associating it with a basic compassionate attitude.
It is known that the practice of mindfulness represented by the two main intervention protocols developed, the program Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) (Birnie et al, 2010) and the program Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) (Kuyken et al 2010), increase compassion. Compassion is not specifically taught in these programs, but implicit messages are sent about the importance of being compassionate and kind to oneself and one’s mental processes when talking about the compassionate attitude, an element that is central to the practice of mindfulness.
However, when the two interventions are associated, compassion therapy provides mindfulness with the conjugation with the mental processes that are behind the social commitment to try to make the world better, and the individual commitment to establish bonds of attachment and affection when we’re suffering. Compassion is a broader concept than mindfulness and, in fact, studies point to the possibility that it is a more effective treatment than mindfulness in some specific pathologies, such as depression (and in disorders related to self-image). , guilt and self-criticism), in addition to interventions focused on increasing psychological well-being in healthy subjects.
The differences between both practices
Focusing on the psychobiology that gives rise to mindfulness and compassion, there are big differences between both practices.
While the mental processes most linked to mindfulness generate a form of metacognition and regulation of attention related to the activity of the medial prefrontal regions and is therefore a recent evolutionary achievement (Siegel 2007), compassion is much more ancient, and goes linked to the mammal care system. It involves substances such as oxytocin and other hormones related to the feeling of secure attachment, and also neural systems and networks linked to love and affiliation (Klimecki et al 2013). The following table summarizes what each of the two therapies provides.
Table: Specific contributions of mindfulness and compassion therapies
MINDFULNESS
COMPASSION
Question answered
What is the experience here and now?
What do you need now to feel good and reduce suffering?
Aim
Become aware of real experience and accept its nature
Comfort the subject in the face of suffering, understanding that primary pain is inherent to the human being.
Risk of each therapy if not balanced with the other
Accept the subject’s discomfort, forgetting about their needs, focusing exclusively on the experience. Possible absence of motivation and ethical and compassionate attitude towards oneself and the world
Do not accept the experience of primary suffering (which is inevitable and inherent to human nature). Not focusing on the here and now, on the real nature of things, and focusing exclusively on seeking to feel better in the future
In conclusion
The experience of self-compassion may seem paradoxical: On the one hand, present suffering is experienced with acceptance, but at the same time, future suffering is intended to be reduced
Both objectives are not incompatible, but complementary: the first (mindful acceptance of the experience of suffering) is the recognition of human nature, and the second is the path to follow (compassion) in the face of the reality of the first.
