How can Imago Dialogue build your mindfulness and compassion muscles?
1. Listen. This seems obvious, but listening brings inner stillness. You can learn to focus fully on what your partner is saying. This is a mindful practice –shifting your attention from your own thoughts to another’s, without judging or reacting.
2. Become aware of your own thoughts and feelings. Taking your turn as the speaker is an opportunity to practice awareness of your own thoughts and feelings. But unlike meditation, when you try to still the chatter of thoughts, as your partner asks you “is there more”, you get a chance to really follow these thoughts, and learn their origin. Your partner then mirrors them back to you. The next time these thoughts come up, you will find yourself less absorbed in them, or the associated pain. This, in turn, helps you to be present for others.
3. You create a sacred space. Something else beautiful happens in an Imago dialogue, as you become aware of the “sacred space” you and your partner create together. It’s the space which includes you both, and connects you both. It’s a deep experience of connectedness, and of the idea that in addition to each of you, physically separate, there is a relationship that is real.
4. Empathy leads to compassion. The emergence of empathy in an Imago dialogue is also a powerful practice. As we learn to practice empathy with our partner – it extends to others too. And empathy lies at the heart of compassion.
