What is empathy really and how does empathy work?

There are many people who do not understand what empathy is and how it works. Let us explain this with a small example.

How does gratitude feel to you? Yes, take a moment and feel gratitude, right now. Continue reading after you have done that.

Well, how well have you managed to just feel the feeling of gratitude? The feeling of being right in your body? To feel the warmth, the happiness and the well-being of this feeling? A real fountain of youth for body, mind and soul.

Note by Petra Webstein: Having gone through these changes myself which are often just put down as menopausal changes, having experienced all the excruciating fear and anxiety about loss of what has been, what was close and dear to me, I found myself coming out at the other end not even richer than imagined but also seeing that everything that I was afraid to loose (and it seemed at times that I have lost it) has come back to me in a much more expanded, loving and unconditional way than I ever would have expected.

Is it worth it? Oh, yes, you bet it is to allow the process to happen graciously, courageously and in ease.

As you know, our minds can often be very loud. As this shift of consciousness unfolds and causes more of the "who we are not" to come to the surface and move out of us, understanding the steps or levels through which our thoughts move may be helpful to manage them. We move toward better mastering each of our thoughts, every emotion, every action, every moment. There are thoughts on many levels of volume, from the perfect silence of knowledge to the screaming and quarreling inner voice. Although there are many levels or layers of thought, let's keep this simple and talk about the seven distinctive levels that are accessible to all of us.

A poem by Charlie Chaplin on his 70th birthday (April 16, 1959), originally written by Kim McMillen:

When I started to love myself, I found that fear and emotional suffering are only warning signs that I'm living against my own truth. Today I know that's "AUTHENTICITY".

When I started to love myself, I understood how much it can offend someone when I try to force my desires on that person, even though I knew the time was not right and the person was not ready and although that person was me. Today I call it "RESPECT".

There is currently a change, a shift in progress, that affects every aspect of our reality in the third dimension. This change is so far-reaching that our limited imagination does not even begin to grasp the transition and change we are in at the moment. This change affects every aspect of life on our planet; political, social and economic structures, the environment, all institutions, the wars, how we see our relationships with others, our work, every thought we think and every feeling we feel. It changes time, our memory, our DNA, the wiring of our physical and emotional body, our beliefs, our perception of good and bad, right and wrong, and above all, our awareness of what's possible.

We are all experts in letting go of what has shaped our human experience. We have let go of identities, ancestors, health, relationships, mass consciousness and even our fear of death. How many times have we thought: Surely there is nothing left to let go now?

Permission is the opposite of the doubt. If we allow everything without control, the doubt can not exist. On the other hand, if we hold on to doubts, we do not really allow. If allowing can be compared to the accelerator pedal of our embodied enlightenment experience, then doubt is the brake.

More and more I observe people who have always been very organized, that they lose their cords from their hands. They are jerky and they do not know each other anymore. They are afraid that they will lose everything if they do not stay close and make an effort.

In spiritual circles one often hears then to let everything flow simply, to give the reins. Yes, what does that really mean and how can we do that?

Our body is an important tool on our way to a new dimension.

Many people practice meditation and experience wonderful worlds on these trips. They long to integrate these worlds into our physical world. However, often when people come back from their meditation, they feel comfortable, but this usually lasts only for a while, then it captures the outside world again and again.

Alchemy is not magic, but it can produce wonderful and magical results. When you are attuned, alchemy is the universal wisdom that helps mental creations to become tangible reality. It is the science of spirituality. It is the dance that weaves universal elements in conscious form. Alchemy is the ability to turn one possibility into another.

Lately I had an opportunity to revisit the space of indifference and it felt like a great opportunity to find more clarity about it.

Indifferent is a quality that we often encounter in our lifes. People who show this trait appear to be strong and in control. It feels as if they are able to stay unattached, objective & nonchalant.  They are not swayed by emotions of others which is in itself a beautiful quality. However I might beg to differ as often they leave you with a feeling of coldness, lonelyness & rejection.

Even though we are living in a world that is more networked than ever, the feelings or loneliness & emptiness seem to surface more and more often. It appears to be very difficult to face them head on and we have a mulitude of choices practically every second of our day to distract us from them.

Do you feel a constant unease in your space? No matter how much you try to keep yourself on an even keel it feels like your world is falling apart and you don't seem to be able to do anything about it. You are feeling raw, vulnerable and at the merrit of your environment. You don't seem to know yourself anymore. And this is scary.