Being kind during mental health awareness week

This week is mental health awareness week… the timing is very apt. Following on from my last post, the theme of this year’s mental health awareness week is kindness and that is precisely what I mentioned in last week’s post as being the most important thing for us all when it comes to ourselves and others. Kindness is one of the most underrated qualities and has often been seen as a sign of weakness. Yet this is the most important thing. Our world can be so brash and harsh and life can be hard but all of this is softened by kindness, gentility and quiet.

Coronavirus has provided some of us with the quiet that human beings need in order to relax. This is why so many people are thrilled to be at home rather than battling their way to work on public transport as usual. Some of us have been very thankful for the virus which has given us a breathing space. Others of us have not had this luxury and have been keeping things going or indeed saving lives and putting their own at risk to do so.

No matter what we have been doing, we should be doing it in a thoughtful way, a kindly way. We can either ask someone quietly and slowly to do something, or we can bark orders at them. There is no right or wrong way to live and no need to judge others for doing differently from us but kindness is a universally great quality to nurture in ourselves, and it has some fabulous lasting effects.

Be kind because:

1. It makes you feel good

Being kind and doing kind things makes us feel really good. It gives us a strong case of the warm fuzzies.

2. It makes others feel good

Being kind and doing kind things makes the person that you are doing it to feel good too.. it gives them a strong case of the warm fuzzies. People don’t forget people who are kind to them…

3. It has a positive effect on the actual brain

Being kind on a regular basis has the psychological benefit of rewiring the brain’s circuitry and we create neural pathways that enhance the natural flow of feel-good and mood elevating pathways.. more than just the warm fuzzies.

4. Helps you live longer

Those who are kind by offering practical help to others had a lower risk of dying over a five year period than those who did not. Wow!

5. It’s contagious

Yep – it is a self-replicating condition. When we see others being kind, we want to do it too… we want to spread the love!

So, Coronavirus Week 9

Next week is mental health awareness week… the timing is very apt.

Following on from my last post – quotation above – the theme of this year’s mental health awareness week is kindness and that is precisely what I mentioned in last week’s post as being the most important thing for us all when it comes to ourselves and others. Kindness is one of the most underrated qualities and has often been seen as a sign of weakness. Yet this is the most important thing. Our world can be so brash and harsh and life can be hard but all of this is softened by kindness, gentility and quiet.

Coronavirus has provided some of us with the quiet that human beings need in order to relax. This is why so many people are thrilled to be at home rather than battling their way to work on public transport as usual. Some of us have been very thankful for the virus which has given us a breathing space. Others of us have not had this luxury and have been keeping things going or indeed saving lives and putting their own at risk to do so.

No matter what we have been doing, we should be doing it in a thoughtful way, a kindly way. We can either ask someone quietly and slowly to do something, or we can bark orders at them. There is no right or wrong way to live and no need to judge others for doing differently from us but kindness is a universally great quality to nurture in ourselves, and it has some fabulous lasting effects.

Be kind because:

1. It makes you feel good

Being kind and doing kind things makes us feel really good. It gives us a strong case of the warm fuzzies.

2. It makes others feel good

Being kind and doing kind things makes the person that you are doing it to feel good too.. it gives them a strong case of the warm fuzzies. People don’t forget people who are kind to them…

3. It has a positive effect on the actual brain

Being kind on a regular basis has the psychological benefit of rewiring the brain’s circuitry and we create neural pathways that enhance the natural flow of feel-good and mood elevating pathways.. more than just the warm fuzzies.

4. Helps you live longer

Those who are kind by offering practical help to others had a lower risk of dying over a five year period than those who did not. Wow!

5. It’s contagious

Yep – it is a self-replicating condition. When we see others being kind, we want to do it too… we want to spread the love!

So, during mental health awareness week who can you reach out to in kindness? Either list two people whom you could assist or look for an opportunity to be kind to a stranger. If you ask for the opportunity to arise, it really will… let me know how you got on and who you helped and how.

Please remember, no matter what, the importance of reaching out to others when you need a little kindness, whether they are family or friends or professionals qualified in the field that you need help with, give yourself this act of being kind to yourself.

You are not alone.

hillybarker@gmail.comCoronavirus Week 9

Next week is mental health awareness week… the timing is very apt.

Following on from my last post – quotation above – the theme of this year’s mental health awareness week is kindness and that is precisely what I mentioned in last week’s post as being the most important thing for us all when it comes to ourselves and others. Kindness is one of the most underrated qualities and has often been seen as a sign of weakness. Yet this is the most important thing. Our world can be so brash and harsh and life can be hard but all of this is softened by kindness, gentility and quiet.

Coronavirus has provided some of us with the quiet that human beings need in order to relax. This is why so many people are thrilled to be at home rather than battling their way to work on public transport as usual. Some of us have been very thankful for the virus which has given us a breathing space. Others of us have not had this luxury and have been keeping things going or indeed saving lives and putting their own at risk to do so.

No matter what we have been doing, we should be doing it in a thoughtful way, a kindly way. We can either ask someone quietly and slowly to do something, or we can bark orders at them. There is no right or wrong way to live and no need to judge others for doing differently from us but kindness is a universally great quality to nurture in ourselves, and it has some fabulous lasting effects.

Be kind because:

1. It makes you feel good

Being kind and doing kind things makes us feel really good. It gives us a strong case of the warm fuzzies.

2. It makes others feel good

Being kind and doing kind things makes the person that you are doing it to feel good too.. it gives them a strong case of the warm fuzzies. People don’t forget people who are kind to them…

3. It has a positive effect on the actual brain

Being kind on a regular basis has the psychological benefit of rewiring the brain’s circuitry and we create neural pathways that enhance the natural flow of feel-good and mood elevating pathways.. more than just the warm fuzzies.

4. Helps you live longer

Those who are kind by offering practical help to others had a lower risk of dying over a five year period than those who did not. Wow!

5. It’s contagious

Yep – it is a self-replicating condition. When we see others being kind, we want to do it too… we want to spread the love!

So, during mental health awareness week who can you reach out to in kindness? Either list two people whom you could assist or look for an opportunity to be kind to a stranger. If you ask for the opportunity to arise, it really will… let me know how you got on and who you helped and how.

Please remember, no matter what, the importance of reaching out to others when you need a little kindness, whether they are family or friends or professionals qualified in the field that you need help with, give yourself this act of being kind to yourself.

You are not alone.

hillybarker@gmail.comduring mental health awareness week who can you reach out to in kindness? Either list two people whom you could assist or look for an opportunity to be kind to a stranger. If you ask for the opportunity to arise, it really will… let me know how you got on and who you helped and how.

Please remember, no matter what, the importance of reaching out to others when you need a little kindness, whether they are family or friends or professionals qualified in the field that you need help with, give yourself this act of being kind to yourself.

You are not alone.

hillybarker@gmail.com