STORIES of compassion and care in Ballarat are starting to capture international attention as examples of how we can all be kinder to each other.
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Compassionate Ballarat's Lynne Reeder, who is also a Federation University researcher, is a founding member of the Global Compassion Coalition that launched this month.
Dr Reeder has been taking some of the learnings from this city to the international platform, such as the Compassionate Heroes project undertaken in partnership with Loreto College.
But she has also found other cities across Australia taking note of what is happening in Ballarat, from peace poles to compassionate leadership workshops.
"In the past it was said everyone should be resilient and becoming back to what was normal. So many global events are changing this," Dr Reeder said. "People are now saying I want you to sit and listen and hear my suffering and have the resource capability to alleviate suffering.
"People are looking at how do we do better to support ourselves to thrive amid the COVID-19 pandemic, what's going on globally and cost of living pressures."
Dr Reeder said science has been looking at what changes and understanding how the mind works when there is empathy and compassion and how this can impact physical and mental health.
There has been a noticeable shift in self-care and compassion, Dr Reeder has noted, such as her being invited to deliver a lecture to Federation University third-year nursing students on looking after themselves and setting good habits for the work they will do.
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Dr Reeder said being part of a global network in sharing ideas has been a "full circle" moment for her. She was first introduced to compassion science from New York Times' best-selling author and psychologist Rick Hanson almost 10 years ago.
Dr Hanson became the founder and president for the Global Compassion Coalition and invited Dr Reeder to help develop a global charter. The coalition's aim is to inspire a wholesale shift towards compassion and uniting communities to be more inclusive, just and caring. Supporters include award-winning comedian and mental health activist Ruby Wax and Mpho Tutu, daughter of human rights activist Desmond Tutu.
Dr Reeder said in an "unsettled world" compassion had never been more important.
"Simple acts of kindness and our capacity to reach out beyond ourselves into the lives of others allows us to work together for a common good and forms the basis for human success.," Dr Reeder said.
"By linking together organisations across the world, including Compassionate Ballarat, the Global Compassion Coalition is creating a critical mass of intention and action for tangible change."
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