“In poverty and other misfortunes of life, true friends are a sure refuge. They keep the young out of mischief; they comfort and aid the old in their weakness, and they incite those in the prime of life to noble deeds.”
-Aristotle
As a practice, Rooted Compassion's foundation consists of compassion, CONNECTION, and resilience. Our methods and practices are grounded in the Polyvagal Theory, authored and developed by Dr. Stephen Porges. The research behind the Polyvagal Theory teaches us that the nervous system and our vagus nerve is foundational in how we live in and understand the world around us. One function of the vagus nerve is to help us interact with others more fully to enhance our sense of felt safety. It shows that when we feel connected to others, we feel safe both emotionally and physically. According to Debi Brannan & Cynthia D. Mohr in article, “Love, Friendship, and Social Support,” we achieve that connection with others in friendship because of four main factors:
Proximity
Familiarity
Similarity
Reciprocity
Understanding the importance of these four factors, may be able to help when we are looking to deepen or strengthen our friendship relationships. “Research has found that close friendships can protect our mental and physical health when times get tough" and this study goes to prove just that (Brannan, 5).
“Adams, Santo, and Bukowski (2011) asked fifth- and sixth-graders to record their experiences and self-worth, and to provide saliva samples for 4 days. Children whose best friend was present during or shortly after a negative experience had significantly lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their saliva compared to those who did not have a best friend present" (Brannan, 5).
We want to encourage you to take the time to cultivate your friendships and help to keep your connections strong because “being socially connected is imperative to achieving personal wellbeing” (Brannan, 2). According to Dr. Stephen Porges, “our biological imperative of connectedness” makes it so that “our personal agenda needs to be directed toward making individuals feel safe” (Porges). When individuals feel safe, we can then start to build and strengthen our connections leading to a healthier well-being.
References:
Brannan, D. & Mohr, C. D. (2013). Love, friendship, and social support. In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba textbook series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF publishers. DOI: nobaproject.com.
Porges, S. W. (2017). The pocket guide to the polyvagal theory: The transformative power of feeling safe. W.W. Norton.
