How Empathy Improves Our Relationships
As we happily spend precious moments with our loved ones, time seems to stop, even as the clock hands continue to move. Of course, this does not mean that sometimes there are also bad days.
But spending time with these people recharges our batteries. Their hugs are so full of love, and our hearts shake with affection as we think of the moments we spend together. These are the people who have a place in our hearts. They keep our feet on the ground and make us feel that we really live, that we are loved and needed. The connection that exists between us is empathy , and we are now going to talk about how empathy improves our relationships.
Surrounding ourselves with people who are our brightest stars gives us empathy. This empathy is a kind of sensitivity that allows us to understand what is happening within ourselves and other people. It also connects us to the world around us. It begins with the individual and later gives birth to a common life. Let’s take a closer look at this…
Empathy begins with ourselves
The empathy we usually talk about starts when we start getting to know ourselves better. We become aware of our own feelings and strive for self-control. So, in addition to being aware of what we feel in any given situation, we must strive to avoid emotions taking over from us. If we want to be empathetic to others, we cannot let our mood control us.
Renowned psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud said that “people cannot keep secrets because even if their lips remain sealed, they will speak with their fingertips and deception will ooze from every pore of their skin.”
As Daniel Goleman showed, we think of empathy as a kind of social radar. The ability to connect with the inner experiences of others keeps mechanics out of our relationships.
How empathy improves our relationships
Robert Levenson of the University of California studied how lovers communicate with each other. Couples arriving at the lab had to have two types of discussion: one that was neutral in tone (how did your day go?) And another that involved disagreement.
During this time, Levenson and his team observed, for example, the heart rate and facial expressions of the couples. When couples felt compassion for each other’s feelings, their bodies mimicked each other’s bodies. In fact, their hearts paced at the same pace and their expressions matched the faces of the other.
That is, in empathy situations, we are like in emotional choreography. Believe it or not, this synchronization is the key to success in relationships.
It’s awesome when there are people in our lives encouraging us, people who understand us and who we understand. But in light of the above, we cannot forget that empathy begins with us exploring ourselves and our feelings.
