The power of compassion

This podcast shares the story from Prof Doty I shared with you yesterday...

 In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with James R. Doty about his memoir​ Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart​.

They discuss: ● the significance of childhood stress ● the possibility of changing one’s core beliefs about oneself ● the relationship between surgeons and their patients ● the nature of compassion ● the Dalai Lama ● the relationship between wealth and empathy ● the worsening problem of social inequality ● the physiology of compassion ● the broken healthcare system in the U.S. ● and other topics James R. Doty​ is a clinical professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Stanford University and the director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University School of Medicine. As director of CCARE, Dr. Doty has collaborated on a number of research projects focused on compassion and altruism including the use of neuro-economic models to assess altruism, use of the CCARE-developed compassion cultivation training in individuals and its effect, assessment of compassionate and altruistic judgment utilizing implanted brain electrodes and the use of optogenetic techniques to assess nurturing pathways in rodents. Presently, he is developing collaborative research projects to assess the effect of compassion training on immunologic and other physiologic determinants of health, the use of mentoring as a method of instilling compassion in students and the use of compassion training to decrease pain. Dr. Doty is also an inventor, entrepreneur and philanthropist having given support to a number of charitable organizations including Children as the Peacemakers, Global Healing, the Pachamama Alliance and Family & Children Services of Silicon Valley. He is on the Board of Directors of a number of non-profit foundations including the Dalai Lama Foundation, of which he is chairman and the Charter for Compassion International of which he is vice-chair. He is on the International Advisory Board of the Council for the Parliament of the World’s Religions and also writes for The Huffington Post.

Sam's Harris Waking Up

Prof Doty's book 

Book: The power of fifty bits

16 personalities

Yesterday Wili showed me this 16 personalities page and talked to me about his test results and how they gave him better insight in how he is and what he needs. My results in the picture, Architect, he found to be very accurate and so did my husband. I am not one to be easily won over by tests like this but it seems my results are fairly close to another test I did on Jordan Peterson's Understand Myself test, try it out and let us know what you think ♥

 "Since the dawn of time, humans have drawn up schematics to describe and categorize our personalities. From the four temperaments of the ancient civilizations to the latest advances in psychology, we have been driven to fit the variables and complexities of human personality into well-defined models. Although we are still some time away from being able to do that, the current models account for our most important personality traits and can predict our behavior with a high degree of accuracy.
Personality is just one of many factors that guide our behavior, however. Our actions are also influenced by our environment, our experiences, and our individual goals. On our website, we describe how people belonging to a specific personality type are likely to behave. We outline indicators and tendencies, however, not definitive guidelines or answers. Significant differences can exist even among people who share a personality type. The information on this website is meant to inspire personal growth and an improved understanding of yourself and your relationships – not to be taken as gospel." 

New event: Mondays 4pm- Share & Care ♥

Do you suffer from Anxiety and/or Depression? 

On Mondays 4pm we set a weekly meeting Share & Care where you can share your experience, what helps you cope and what not, find or be a shoulder, make new friends or just sit and listen...

Our mantra: it's ok!

Helping other people can improve your self-esteem and make you feel better about yourself, since you are taking time and energy to have a positive impact on someone else. And receiving help from someone can be a positive motivator to then turn around and help someone else. The impact of one person helping another person, therefore, could benefit a whole chain of individuals. Just imagine how the world would be if people started using helping others as a primary coping mechanism for their own struggles. 

By turning our attention toward helping others, we make everyone feel better—ourselves included. We find not only relief from our depression and anxiety, but also improvements in our relationships.

Taken together these two effects can trigger a "virtuous circle" in which improved relationships lead to feeling better leads to improved relationships and so forth.

Compassion and kindness at it's best ♥