Claudia Cavazza - Compassion Is…

Apr 15

I met Claudia back in 2012 through our mutual friend Justin B. Ever since our first meeting, Claudia has consistently shown up and supported Veteran causes like MalaforVets and VETOGA. I’m grateful our paths have crossed.

The meaning of the word compassion from its Latin roots means to "suffer with." To me, the practice of compassion is expressed through my commitment to suffer and feel with others while respecting how everyone chooses to show up. As I've been sharing my yoga practice with veterans and first responders for quite a few years now, compassion has always been my guiding principle on and off the mat. I express my compassion by offering the space for everyone in the yoga practice to move, breathe, and be exactly as they are without needing to change or fix anything about how they show up on that day on the mat. Similarly, off the mat, in my everyday life, compassion looks like meeting others exactly where they are without expecting them to be different. To me, the practice of self-compassion is the pursuit of accepting the good, the bad, and the ugly of my human nature without judgment while learning to love myself and the world around me wholeheartedly and unconditionally. It's a consistent work in progress, and that's why I call it practice.