5 Ways Meditation Can Help Make Kinder & Compassionate for yourself and others

Stress and anxiety can lead to damaging negative self criticisms, to being unkind and unjust to ourselves and others, to wreaking havoc on achieving our dreams and aspirations.

But have no fear  MStars readers, according to renowned meditation & mindfulness teachers Deb & Ed Shaprio there a few simple daily activities that we can ALL practice each day to help make us a compassionate,kinder person to ourselves and others.

5 Ways Meditation Can Make You Kinder

:1. Become a friend to yourself
"It's inevitable when we sit quietly with meditation as a companion that we will discover a new level of self-acknowledgment and self-friendship. We are kinder and more accepting of who we are, less concerned with superficial appearances or image."

2. Think of others equally
"As we open to ourselves we become more aware that we are not alone here, that there is an intricate inter-dependence between all beings: We all want to be happy, and we are all doing our best to fulfill that. We see that no one is more important than another."

3. Be forgiving
"As we see that all beings are striving to find happiness so we can be more tolerant, accepting, caring and forgiving of each other. We all make mistakes -- if we didn't then we would be like robots rather than humans. As we can forgive ourselves for mistakes, we can forgive others. Perfection is our ability to see our (or their) imperfections!"

:4. Do random acts
"Kindness doesn't need to be applauded. In fact, often the greatest act of kindness is that which goes unseen. A simple smile can sometimes be the greatest gift of all. Practice kindness wherever and however you can."

:5. Pick yourself up every time you fall
"Giving kindness includes giving it to ourselves. We are often hard on ourselves, finding fault, criticizing, or feeling embarrassed of perceived mistakes. Meditation creates an inner strength and confidence that enables us to get up over and over again. And if we get up just one time more than we fall then we can't fail!

We have a photograph at home of Bishop Tutu with his hands held in prayer position. Underneath it are his words, Please make it fashionable to be compassionate. That photograph is many years old yet his words are even more relevant today. Is it not time to make compassion fashionable, to make kindness cool, to make consideration and care hot topics?

Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't
hurt them. The Dalai Lama"

What random act's of kindess do you perform everday for yourself and others? Let us know on our Facebook Wall.