The Gifts and Challenges of Empathy, Online 2/20

The Zoom link to participate in this event will be provided at least 24 hours before it begins. Please call 415-354-0360 if you have any questions.

Saturday, February 20, 2:00–4:00 pm PT

Most of us have a natural capacity for empathy, the ability to understand and share others’ emotions, allowing us to see things from their perspective and connect with their feelings. While this crucial skill has many benefits, including enhancing our relationships with others and the world, it can also leave us feeling stressed and overwhelmed. Have you ever felt this and wondered what to do?

This workshop is for anyone who feels at times taxed or exhausted by negotiating the energy and emotions of others. We might even feel so hyper-attuned to others that we identify as “empaths” or “highly sensitive people.” It’s vital for sensitive people to know how to avoid taking on an individual’s physical and emotional energy, including their pain.

During this two-hour workshop, we’ll focus on the process and practice of working with being highly empathetic to others’ emotional states in a more grounded, conscious, and balanced way that avoids overwhelm. We’ll also explore the many gifts of being an empath, including an open heart, intuition, and the ability to connect with nature, animals, and other humans.

Empathy without boundaries is self-sabotage. Participants will learn how to set boundaries and hold space for those we care about without taking on their pain. The secret is to find balance as a sensitive person and learn strategies to avoid absorbing other people’s stress.

Based on her book, The Genius of Empathy, Dr. Judith Orloff, a UCLA-trained psychiatrist, New York Times bestselling author, and an empath herself, will discuss strategies for how to stop absorbing the energy of others and protect yourself in your relationships, family, work, and from the negative voices in your own head.

SFZC Central Abbot & Abiding Abbot of City Center David Zimmerman will help to situate this process within a Zen context and weave in meditation, mindfulness, and practice elements where naturally supportive.

In this live online workshop, learn to stay grounded and balanced by:

• Staying centered
• Setting healthy boundaries
• Meditating to stay balanced
• Listening to your body and intuition
• Identifying people we feel drained around and how to cope with them
• Healing emotional triggers and release resentments, anxiety, and negative energy you absorbed
• Saying no to oversharers, narcissists, or others who drain your energy
• Taking in the positive, nurturing energy of nature and people

Suggested reading: The Genius of Empathy: Practical Skills to Heal Your Sensitive Self, Your Relationships and the World, by Judith Orloff, MD, foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Recordings:
All course sessions will be recorded, and registered participants will receive temporary access to the recordings for later viewing.