Compassion Living Series with Emma (me)

What does compassionate living mean to me?

It’s easy to get caught up in the busyness of life, especially with the overwhelm that comes from the fast paced lifestyle we’re all in together. Thus, forgetting how incredible it is we have the chance to be a human being on this earth & underestimating the impact we have as an individual in our time here. Compassionate living to me is recognising this and aligning my daily actions with my belief system. I believe we are responsible to ensure we are not harming other beings who share this earth with us; rather the opposite. We are meant to share joy & love & to ensure every being is safe & free.

This means I am committed to learning how to do better, making those changes to the best of my ability. So far this has meant:

• Going vegan, meaning I no longer eat anything from an animal or using their skin or hair or products that test ingredients on them.

• No longer supporting products from slave labour meaning I don’t go to pennies/primark, H&M, Dunnes Amazon. I try to avoid buying new things wherever possible & instead thrift or wait & save or work with what I already have.

• Making my top career goal about spreading compassion, not compromising ethics & sustainability for profit.

• Working on myself continuously; a happier Emma who feels peace within has more to give & is nicer to be around.

• Staying open minded to ways I am messing up & can do better.

• Committing to a life of finding ways I can serve humanity & earth.

• Striving to not put my own personal desires above what should be the basic rights of humans, the animals & the planet to feel safe & free from harm. It’s not always easy with the world we exist in but it is worth it!

What does practicing self-compassion look like to me?

Making up for all the years of self loathing in my past & doing the shadow work needed to release that internalised shame, trauma & fear. Simple acts like touching & moving my body in the most gentle embrace & repeating mantras or saying gratitudes like ‘Thank you stomach for always digesting my food, keeping me alive & being fucking fabulous. I love you!’ Doing this even with my daily swelled stomach from SIBO (compromised small intestine); On the bad days I can still be grateful for my large intestine & stomach etc, practice makes joy.

Putting myself first (may sound like a contradiction to above but trust me it’s not), letting go of caring what others think & committing to having my basic needs met:

• Am I moving my body enough?
• Getting enough hydration?
• Sleeping enough & through the night?
• Keeping my stress levels in check?
• Eating enough nourishing ingredients?

Can you remember a moment you felt truly free? Where were you and what were you doing?

Right now. I feel tuned in with my body & connected with my breath. I am not attached to the outcome of writing this blog or desiring to do anything else right now other than write. I have neither craving nor resistance and my basic needs are met. To me that is freedom of mind, body & spirit.

If somebody came to me wondering how they could live a more compassionate life, what tip would I give them to help them on that journey?

Start the journey with what you pay for each day. Take the time to learn about where the food, clothes & products you buy regularly come from – What country? Did the item travel far? Who made them? Is that person happy, paid well & feeling safe? Did anybody get hurt for you to be able to have it? Did the earth’s rivers get polluted or the air full of harmful substances?

Then, close your eyes. Put yourself in their situation, be it human or animal or even river. Take a breath. Ask yourself, would you be ok if it were you?

If the answer is no then start your research. What is an alternative that will bring no harm? There is almost always an alternative if you open your mind and heart.

How did reflecting on your experiences with compassion just now leave you feeling?

Deep emotions that remind me to never lose hope & never give up.

30 Habits to start before turning 30

Here are 30 changes I made in my own life that brought me closer to joy. Keep in mind these habits will benefit us at any age; it’s never too late to start! Make lifestyle changes one at a time for true success. I recommend the book ‘Slight Edge’ by Jeff Olson if you need advice on how to make habits stick. Here it is as a PDF: https://givbuxuniversity.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/The-Slight-Edge-Jeff-Olson.pdf

1. WEAR SUNSCREEN DAILY

Avoid age spots – I already have them on my face! Avoid premature skin ageing. Pick up a chemical free sunscreen from any health shop.

2. QUIT GETTING DRUNK

Let’s be honest, it leads us to feel bad about ourselves. Also, it’s literally a poison to the human body eeekk!

3. END YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH TOBACCO

4. READ BOOKS

Daily if possible, even weekly. Factual, fiction, autobiography or whatever floats your boat. Keep looking until you find what you like.

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5. SAY GOODBYE TO TOXIC FRIENDSHIPS

This was one of the hardest but necessary for internal peace and joy.

6. SPEAK WITH LOVE TO THE BODY PARTS YOU FELT/FEEL INSECURE ABOUT

I had a lot of making up to do to my stomach & arms.

Compassionate Living with Siún

Almost at the end of our ‘Compassionate Living Series.’ What a joy to read the different perspectives on living a life of compassion. An idea for my next series is ‘How I got through depression’ to get a variety of insights. If this is something you would read, let me know!

Here are the wonderful thoughts of an Irish woman named Siun Byrne about self compassion, compassion for others & life. Enjoy!

Tell me Siun, What does compassionate living mean to you?

Compassionate living, for me, means living a life as free from harm to all beings both human and non-human as possible, being respectful and empathetic, and trying to leave the world in a better way than I found it. It also means extending that compassion and love I have for others, to myself on a moment-to-moment basis too, as it’s always been easier for me to care for others and forget about myself so that’s something that I’ve learned to cultivate within myself over the years.

What does practicing self-compassion look like to you?

Wow, where to start with this one? I practice forgiveness on a daily basis, both towards myself and towards others which I have found incredibly healing as it is so easy to get wrapped up in all the things you did ‘wrong’ and how others have wronged you that we forget that we are all just trying to figure things out and understand what it means to live the human experience! Non-judgement and non-attachment are also both huge parts of my own self -compassion, as well as self-care, not only in the typical sense but in doing the hard work to heal myself and trusting my intuition on what is truly good for me in the moment, whatever that may look like. I could talk about my journey with self-compassion for hours on end honestly.

Can you remember a moment you felt truly free? Where were you and what were you doing?

The Healthy Period Series – The Basics

Here are some of the resources from our first event of ‘The Healthy Period Series’, where we got the opportunity to speak with Augustina Jekennu of ‘We Live Our Values’, all about some basic habits and actions we can to take to support our period health.

TIPS

• Start Prioritising Rest – Phase before your period and during your period

• Track Your Cycle – For a few months, even a sentence a day. 1. Journal noting how you feel, what your bleed is like (how long, colour), cervical fluid, symptoms, cravings.Use an app to give you a little more insight or support to track but use in support of journaling. Try the free app ‘Flo’ (Tip: Check out ‘secret chats’ in Flo for some chats from people who are having similar experiences)

• Advocate For Yourself – Get checked out by GP if you want to investigate a symptom that is effecting your life. Bring your journal, insist they either provide a check up with blood tests – that you are meeting your nutritional requirements such as iron, vitamin d, b12 and checking out your thyroid, blood pressure. If they don’t provide what you need, insist they give you a referral. A gynecologist is well worth a visit if you are having bad symptoms.

• Practice Speaking Openly – About your symptoms to those around you to give them the opportunity to be supportive. Speaking about our needs can be so helpful when around others during our bleed or before hand when we feel most vulnerable.

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

Compassionate Living Series with Simone

This is the third interview of our mini compassionate living series which was with the light of my life Simone Tiso. Amazing to find these different perspectives.

Tell me Simone, what does compassionate living mean to you?

Compassion is defined as “sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.”

With time, I am realising that I’m probably wrong on this and maybe most people don’t naturally live compassionately, but for me compassionate living is simply living. I have always had pity and concern for the sufferings and misfortunes of others and focused on how could I live to reduce/avoid that suffering to others.

Unless emotions end up getting the better of me and I might cause some negative feelings to others. Though I suspect I have never caused concrete harm.

Maybe it makes more sense to define the opposite of this, apathy, which is something that shocks me every time I see it.

What does practicing self compassion look like to you?

I do not know or understand this concept, so it is absent in my vocabulary/worldview.

Can you remember a moment you felt truely free? Where were you & what were you doing?

I have felt very free when I first left Italy. Then, as I forced myself to be financially independent I have felt that freedom slowly fade away. It has come back once I started getting a salary and have now achieved the goal I had put in front of myself.

Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace

I wrote this blog with the events industry in mind but it applies to all sorts of professional industries. Here are some ideas to support diversity and inclusion in your industry.

1.TALK WITH SUPPLIERS: Ask your suppliers do they have any diversity and inclusion provisions in their business model? If they say no, encourage them to think about it.

2. JOB OFFER ADVERTS: Include a small statement such as ‘We value diversity and aspire to reflect this in our workforce. We welcome applications from people from all sections of the community, irrespective of race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief. This role requires xyz’. – as opening the door of opportunity to a range of people from diverse backgrounds is just as important as finding a kind hard working individual.

3. PROMOTE JOB ROLES ELSEWHERE: In offices such as International Resource Centres, Citizen’s Advice Bureau and Community Resource Centres, not just to your usual following.