I recently discovered the practice of Tonglen (thank you Devendra Banhart ;). Also known as ‘taking and sending’, Tonglen reverses the logic of pain aversion and pleasure seeking. By visualizing the pain of others with an in-breath, and sending something to counter that pain on the out-breath, we use “what seems like poison as medicine”. I guess we’re geared to avoid suffering… it makes sense, nobody wants to feel down and out. Everyone has their ‘way out’ – mine has, and still is excessive over thinking. This practice encourages me to be with someone else’s pain, to sit with it, to remove myself from the center of my universe. I’ll admit, this felt a little counterintuitive at first, but I’m really enjoying what seems to be a beautiful tool for building compassion and a deeper sense of empathy. Feels like a move in the right direction ✨