How to develop empathy?

Empathy is the sensitivity of an individual to the feelings and emotions of other people, the ability to "put oneself in the place" of a stranger, the ability to empathize and catch someone else's mood. At every stage of life, we need understanding, support, compassion - we demand this from others. However, we ourselves do not always know how to pay attention to others, even the closest people, referring to being busy or an inborn callousness of character.

Some, in general, believe that an empath has to be born, it is impossible to become one. This statement is fundamentally wrong. Learning empathy can and should be. How - you will learn from the article.

Showing empathy is in the literal sense of the word, the experience of the feelings of another person, and not just the duty "yes, I understand how bad you are, I'm sorry, calm down"... This is what distinguishes empathy from pity. And here a reasonable question arises: why is it necessary to develop empathy, because at first glance this phenomenon has more disadvantages than advantages.

Indeed, an overly impressionable and emotional person can take the problems of others too close to his heart and, as a result, his own anxiety increases, he does not sleep at night, is nervous, stressed. So it won't take long to get sick.

However, if you dig a little deeper, you can see that empaths have many advantages over “insensitive” people. Therefore, it is necessary to develop empathy for a number of reasons:

• people who do not hide their emotions, open, understand, it is much easier to get to know each other and maintain warm relations;
• empaths are able to "read" information from the interlocutor, adjusting to his emotional state, thereby they are excellently disposed to themselves and, as a rule, always achieve their goals;
• people with developed empathy are much less likely to get involved in conflicts - moreover, they can anticipate their occurrence and prevent “fire”;
• empaths know how to start a conversation correctly, how to turn it in the right direction, how to lead the interlocutor to the right thought, they are able to motivate, lead, "infect" with ideas, enthusiasm.

In addition, the development of empathy is necessary for many people due to the peculiarities of their profession:

• HR managers;
• psychologists and psychotherapists;
• actors;
• trade workers;
• HR managers;
• teachers and many others.

How does empathy help you in your professional life? Everything is very simple.

• The ability to recognize the feelings of another person and the correct, timely reaction to them are the key to successful communication.
• Empathy is an essential aspect of any development aimed at public consumption, from the introduction of a new product to a political concept. It is with its help that it turns out to identify human needs.
• Negotiating, settling conflicts both within the company and in the interaction of employees with clients is impossible without understanding the feelings and needs of other people.

To develop the necessary skills and become an empath, you need to train daily. There are many techniques that can help you unleash your empathic abilities or enhance your disposition. Here is some of them.

• First, start ... to feel... Yes, yes, you heard right - the very first step towards developing empathy will be tracking your own feelings. For example, you woke up in the morning and, not yet opening your eyes, begin to “probe” the space around you. What do you feel? What thoughts come to your mind while doing this? What is your physical and mental condition? After you learn to feel yourself, you can move on to other people. So you met a friend or a stranger turned to you on the street - try to catch his emotional state. It will hardly work the first time, but constant practice will give excellent results.
• Observe the world around you: people, animals, birds, plants. Try to perceive the emotions of each individual. Here is a dog running - do you think it is angry? Puzzled by something? Scared? Try to guess this by a number of signs. Look at people while on public transport or queuing up. Track their facial expressions, noting to yourself that this man seems to be preoccupied with something, and that girl is in anticipation of a joyful event. Highlight and remember the signs by which you made such conclusions.
• Spiritual development plays an important role in unlocking the empath's abilities.... Spend time reading literature, watching movies - especially in this regard, pictures based on real events are good, as well as psychological thrillers and dramas that make you think, guess the reasons that prompted the heroes to act in one way or another, their emotions. It will be useful to run a marathon on self-development, self-knowledge.
• Love your body... Empathy is best expressed in people who look after their health and prefer healthy food, sports, walks, yoga, meditation.
• Show kindness to all living, radiate calmness and joy, love the world around you and treat it with care, with gratitude.

Of course, any training - including the development of empathy - is best started in childhood.However, you can increase its level in an adult by regularly performing simple exercises.

• Guessing emotion... Performed by a group of people. Each player is given a piece of paper with a given emotion (anger, joy, sadness, anger, amazement, irritation), after which he must portray it in such a way that others will guess.
• "Mirror reflection"... It is performed in pairs. Two people stand opposite each other, one plays the role of a mirror, and the other "looks" into it and shows various gestures and facial expressions. The task of the "mirror" is to repeat what has been shown.
• "Phone conversation"... Played as a pair. One participant pretends to speak on the phone, but does not utter words, but only with the help of emotions and facial expressions tries to convey to the other the essence of the conversation, and he must understand what it is about.
• "Painting by two artists"... A couple of players take one pencil and, without saying a word, draws an arbitrary picture: a tree, a kitten, a house. The purpose of the exercise is to teach pair work, to anticipate the actions of a partner.
• Passing the feeling around... Group lesson. All participants should sit next to each other in a tight circle. The essence of the exercise is to convey a feeling in a circle without using words, just by touching. When everyone “gets” a feeling, everyone will have to speak about what feeling they got and what they conveyed. As a result, it will be clear who was able to guess correctly, and through whom the distortion occurred.
• Understanding the emotional state of a stranger... The exercise is also carried out in a group. The presenter leaves the room in which the rest of the participants are sitting, each of whom, with the help of facial expressions, depicts and holds some kind of emotion on his face. Then the presenter comes in and begins to guess who has depicted what feeling. The participant whose emotion could not be recognized becomes the new leader.