“ Compassion is a mixed passion, composed of love and sorrow” -Noah Webster

February is the month that our love senses will be teased with red hues, chocolate-covered strawberries, and images of tiny winged archers. But, while passion is in the air, I am inspired by the possibility of transmuting Passion into deep Com-Passion for the Collective!

We are spiritual beings who have chosen to experience the separateness of the human experience.

You and I have indeed decided to emerge at a unique and historic time! The past couple of years of politics and pandemics have given us new opportunities to choose sides and experience greater separateness with some and greater closeness with others.

Our hearts genuinely call for connection, wholeness, and acceptance.

The recent tragedies in Colorado have affected so many within our shared circles. I make sense of it all by framing the “reason” behind them as a deep desire to ignite our shared experience of compassion. Compassion allows us to see ourselves in the life of another and feel as they feel. As a parent to a child, we see the other as innocent and know that fumbling in life, like in tree pose, ultimately, teaches us to stand.

Within precious moments of human connection, there is a sense of oneness, of the whole human story being played in miniature right in front of our eyes. Let us use these tragedies as a catalyst for finding deep compassion for others. So that our loses with ulitmately be the spark for healing and connection that we so desperately need?

It's easy to say “be more compassionate,” but how do we cultivate and amplify the sensation of compassion in our fast-paced world?

Here are some simple ways our family will practice embodying compassion this month.

Name an object in your world that you will use as a reminder to step out of your mind and focus on your heart. For example, any time you see a shape that looks like a heart, take a big breath right into your own chest, take your palm and place it on your chest over your heart. Feel the energy there, and grow it even stronger! You can do this multiple times a day.

The more often you practice the better!

Speak or sing the mantra “Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu”, which means “May all beings everywhere be happy and free, and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all.”

Our family will use this as our dinner blessing for the month. I can see a world of more compassionate beings; I can see a kind world. I can see a more connected world. I invite you to explore passion and compassion during this heart-centered month.