How to develop empathy?

Empathy is the individual’s susceptibility to the feelings and emotions of other people, the ability to “put oneself in the place” of an outsider, the ability to empathize and capture the mood of others. At every stage of life, we need understanding, support, compassion - we demand this from others. However, we ourselves are not always able to pay attention to others, even the closest people, referring to employment or inborn callousness of character.

Some, in general, believe that empathy needs to be born, it is impossible to become one. Such a statement is fundamentally false. Empathy can and must be learned. How - learn from the article.

The manifestation of empathy is in the literal sense of the word, experiencing the feelings of another person, and not just the duty officer "yes, I understand how bad you feel, I'm really sorry, calm down". This is what distinguishes empathy from pity. And here a reasonable question arises: why empathy should be developed, because at first glance this phenomenon has more minuses than pluses.

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, stressful. So not long and get sick.

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

• people who are not hiding their emotions, open, understanding, it is much easier to get acquainted and maintain warm relations;
• empaths are able to “read” information from the interlocutor, adjusting to their emotional state, thereby they are well disposed towards 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 a “fire”;
• Empathists know how to start a conversation correctly, how to turn it in the right direction, how to direct 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 characteristics of their profession:

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

How does empathy help in professional activities? 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 the political concept. It is with its help that it turns out to identify human needs.
• Negotiating, resolving conflicts both within the company and in the interaction of employees with customers is impossible without understanding the feelings and needs of other people.

In order to develop the necessary skills and become an empath, you need to train daily. There are many techniques that can help unleash the power of empathy or strengthen existing inclinations. Here are some of them.

• First, start ... feel. Yes, yes, you heard right - the very first step on the path to developing empathy will be to track your own feelings. For example, you woke up in the morning and, still not opening your eyes, begin to “probe” the space around you. What do you feel? What thoughts come to your mind? What is your physical and mental state? After you learn to feel yourself, you can move on to other people. So you met a friend or an outsider turned to you on the street - try to catch his emotional state. The first time it is unlikely to succeed, but constant practice will give an excellent result.
• Watch the world around you: people, animals, birds, plants. Try to perceive the emotions of each individual. A dog is running - do you think it is angry? Something puzzled? Scared? Try to guess this for a number of signs. Sitting in public transport or standing in line, look at people. 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.
• An important role in unlocking empathic abilities is played by spiritual development.. Take time to read literature, watch movies - especially in this regard, good pictures based on real events, as well as psychological thrillers and dramas that make you think, guess the reasons that prompted the heroes to act one way or another, their emotions. It will be useful to pass the marathon in self-development, self-knowledge.
• Love your body. Empathy is best expressed in people who monitor their health and prefer healthy food, sports, walking, yoga, meditation.
• Show kindness to all living, radiate peace 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 depict it so that others can guess.
• "Mirror reflection". 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 the shown.
• "Phone conversation". It is played in pairs. 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 is being said.
• "Picture of two artists". A pair of players takes 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, anticipating the actions of a partner.
• We convey the feeling in a circle. Group lesson. All participants should sit next to each other, forming a tight circle. The essence of the exercise is to convey any feeling in a circle without the use of words, only by touch. When everyone “gets” the feeling, everyone will have to speak out about what kind of feeling he received and which he conveyed. In the end, it will be clear who was able to guess correctly, and through whom the distortion occurred.
• Understanding the emotional state of an outsider. Exercise is also performed in a group. The presenter leaves the room in which the other participants are sitting, each of whom, using facial expressions, depicts and holds some kind of emotion on his face. Then the leader comes in and begins to guess who portrayed what feeling. The participant whose emotion could not be recognized becomes the new leader.