When I think of compassion, I think of the sun.  I think of that wonderful way we feel when the sun comes out from behind the clouds and warms our skin. I think of the wonderful way we feel when a friend touches our life in a way the sun does.  

A friend has come to say, “I understand.  It’s ok.  Don’t worry.  I am here with you. I’m listening.” 

There is nothing more precious in life than the compassion we give to or we feel for another person.  It is a weak remedy for the human condition but the only remedy we have. 

Yoga teaches us that this compassion that draws us together, must also come from within. 

To extend compassion to ourselves, ahimsa, “to be our own best friend” as the saying goes, is not always easy.  We sometimes tend to be hard on ourselves when we make a mistake, when we fall short. 

Those words of compassion that a friend will sometimes offer us, we need to offer them to ourselves. We need, in other words, to nourish ourselves with the warmth of the sunshine.

This week, AWEsome Week 3, we will go under the sun and play with Surya Namaskar  (Sun Salutation). We will salute the SUN within us.  

Enjoy this beautiful day!

Namaste!

Jocelyne and Dr. Jake PhDOG (specialist in compassion)