Empathy: Spa Treatment for the Soul (Part 3)

This podcast wraps up the series on empathy as a spa treatment for the soul by connecting the dots between stress and inflammation - and the inflammation reducing properties of empathy.

A small set of practices such as receiving empathy,meditation (mindfulness), yogic meditation, and Tai Chi, promote well-being by reducing inflammation. These practices are not reducible to empathy (orvice versa), but they all share that one single, common factor: reduced inflammation. These anti-inflammatory interventions have been shown to make a profound difference in controlled experiments, evidence-based research, and peer-reviewed publications (discussed in detail in this podcast). Empathy is at the top of my list, but is not the only item on it. Empathy along with mindfulness (a form ofmeditation), Yoga, Tai Chi, spending time in a sensory deprivation tank, and certain naturally occurring steroids, need to be better known as interventions that reduce inflammation and restore homeostatic equilibrium to the body according to evidence based researchPeer reviewed research demonstrate that interventions such as empathy reduce biological markers of inflammation and restore equilibrium. This is also a metaphor, though not merely that. When an angry—“inflamed”—person is listened to empathically—is given a “good listening” as I like to say—the person frequently calms down and regains his equilibrium. Empathy migrates ontothe short list of inflammation reducing interventions. The compelling conclusion is that empathy is good for your well-being.