Building Balanced Empathy - graduate feedback

Charlotte Elliot who lives in UK and is a Trustee at the Land of Joy in Northumberland. She is a FDCW Facilitator and FSS trainer for FPMT and trains FPMT students around the world about FPMT Centres, culture, programs, resources etc. Charlotte attended the Online Building Balanced Empathy course and has given it a sparkling review. Thank you Charlotte for sharing such wonderful words, we hope the course has inspired you and will inspire the others around you also.

Feedback from Charlotte Elliot, BBE graduate, January 2020

“It was surprising and very, very positive. It was very touching. I had an insight into vulnerability and resilience. And just how much we criticise ourselves and each other. 

Many modern mindfulness programs miss the mark unless you are really dedicated and committed for the long term. This course was so immediate.

This course offers a solution in a modern world where everything has to be fast and immediate. You have to hit it right, first time and I found this course really did. Especially with the meditations and how they are led - powerful yet so simple. 

Reading through the timelines and looking at the slides –what you have given us is a professional offering that is easy to use and everything is to hand.

The whole sequence of our shared vulnerability and our capacity for resilience being a basis for balanced empathy leading to compassion really hit me. As a result I was able to deliver that a couple of days later.

I lead a meditation class once per month because people can’t commit to once a week. So I tried a few of the meditations out on them. I used the Enquiry technique From their heart asking a question, then asking again. The question used was ‘How do you care for yourself?’ And the effect was amazing. 

All have lost mothers, fathers, brothers, friends and we are all in this era of loss. So how to rebuild our resilience and own our strengths? With that question-everyone went-‘Oh, I don’t! I’m always out there for family, for kids, but me?’ When you ask it –over and over again-how do you really care for yourself-the answer is –I don’t. Big lightbulb moments!! Everyone has been emailing me since saying how precious it was. 

It is so helpful to have all of the background information and science research.  Many of us have heard of Drs Kristen Neff and Brene Brown so it is great to have links to their work. 

My group don’t want anything too religious. Yet this time they were asking me questions about Buddhism! 3 years on and they finally asked me-how does this fit in with your Buddhist Philosophy. Because your timelines and notes cover all of that, it was easy to say this is the basis and these are the things that are important for you right now and these are what we can explore later. It was just brilliant. 

I think the UE facilitation style is great. I love the freedom to present it the way I would present it, not the way someone else might. And the freedom to pick and choose because there is enough course material there. So sometimes you may want to do it this way, and another day do it differently. Experimenting and adapting

I’m aiming to be able to facilitate all 8 of these modules.

THANK YOU CHARLOTTE

May all beings be happy :)