ABSTRACT
Compassion training can have a great effect on the self-healing potential. Healing is not just about reducing complaints and symptoms, removing a sick organ, eliminating harmful bacteria or influencing chemical processes with medication. Where cure of the primary suffering turns out to be impossible, care can bring ease from the secondary suffering that arises out of the unhealthy ways in which we deal with the primary suffering. When we no longer try to escape from the relationship with our primary pain or fight against it but instead restore the connection with loving attention, we become whole again in the deepest sense. Mindfulness practice and compassion training heal us at the deeper levels of our being. Mindfulness opens the eye and compassion the heart for the inevitable suffering as it is. The chapter discusses the value of compassion for healing processes in our lives, and we look at how we can continue the practice after the training course.
