Empathetic Individual = Empathetic Community  

Gaya Surendorff

To be empathetic means we are able to connect and experience the nature of someone or something outside of ourselves. We could describe empathy as the ability to feel what another individual or group of people may be going through, or quite simply – we are able to put ourself in someone else’s shoes. ..

Let’s look at empathy in terms of the brain. The pre-frontal cortex is linked to our social behaviour, our ability to empathise and create positive relationships and also our ability to concentrate and focus. The pre-frontal cortex thrives on mindfulness activities, in fact 8-week mindfulness studies have shown that the grey matter in the pre-frontal cortex develops after practicing mindfulness and allows us to empathise deeply with others and to better cope with stress.

How to develop your empathy: