Compassion connects us during Mental Health Week 2024

This year is centred on the healing power of compassion. Compassion is the practice of meeting suffering – whether our own or the suffering of others – with kindness. We all have the capacity to be compassionate, and we know that doing so can make an enormous difference – let's take a closer look at the power of compassion at UBC.  

Learn more about compassion at UBC 

Enrol in a special edition of Mindful Mondays 

To mark this year’s Mental Health Week theme, our weekly Mindful Monday session will explore self-compassion as an object of meditation. Join our instructor, Aisha Tejani, on Monday, May 13 from 9:30-9:50 am to experience this special edition of Mindful Mondays. 

Enrol

Start a mindfulness practice of your own

Our newly developed, Introduction to Mindfulness course, is a great place to get started with your own compassionate mindfulness practice. This self-paced course is a great option if you can’t make Mindful Mondays with Aisha. 

Enrol

Understanding compassion in the workplace 

To help educate Canadians on the power of compassion, the CMHA has created a series of resources which you might find helpful to improve your understanding of the utility of compassion in the workplace.  

• What is compassion? 

• The practice of self-compassion 

• The mental health impacts of compassion

Creating compassionate workplaces 

One aspect that we are most interested in at UBC is creating thriving workplaces. Compassion can be a powerful driver of culture change, leading to more psychologically healthy and safe workplaces. The following information is taken from CMHA’s: Creating compassionate workplace cultures:

In recent years, the need to extend compassion to the workplace is increasing, rapidly. In fact, a recent study¹ found that 71% of Canadian employees reported that their mental health impacted their ability to work. Plus, research found that compassion has been linked to higher job satisfaction, loyalty and trust in the organization, higher retention rates, and improvements in performance and motivation.² 

In the workplace, we can offer compassion to ourselves and to our coworkers. When we do this, we increase connections and improve relationships, promote positive emotions, and reduce job-related stress and anxiety.³ 

HOW WE CAN BE COMPASSIONATE COWORKERS 

Forming authentic relationships with our colleagues is an important aspect of creating compassionate workplace cultures. When we find or create deliberate opportunities for real connection at work, we increase the opportunity for trust and openness.⁴ We can practice compassion with our colleagues by expressing genuine interest and concern, actively listening without judgement, and validating their experiences and emotions.⁵ Doing so on a regular basis as well as when our colleagues need extra support is vital for forming meaningful support networks at work. 

SHOWING COMPASSION FOR OURSELVES 

It’s important to show ourselves the same level of compassion, patience, and kindness we show our colleagues. For example, when we’re having a tough day at home or at work, it can be difficult to perform at our best. Instead of wishing we got more work done, we can recognize that everyone has bad days sometimes. Setting reasonable expectations is one way to show ourselves compassion. We can also try not to define ourselves by these challenges. Rather than letting judgemental thinking determine how we feel about ourselves or our performance, we can reframe our perspective to be more gentle and positive.⁶