Showing kindness to others and to you

Now is the perfect time to brighten up someone's day with a small act of kindness. Smiling at a passer-by when you are out on your daily walk, offering to do some shopping for a neighbour or posting a card to someone to show you are thinking of them can make their day. 

Research shows that carrying out acts of kindness is also beneficial for your own mental health. 
 

Ways to show kindness to others

1. Greet a passer-by on your socially distanced walk
   
   
2. Offer to help neighbours with items of shopping they may need
   
   
3. Check in on friends, family, and acquaintances that you know may be struggling with lockdown overload or isolation
   
   
4. Practice patience with those you are quarantining with. It's normal for tempers to fray in such close quarters. If you can take a beat and step back or notice your reactions, you can change developing situations or defuse them quickly

Showing kindness to yourself
You may find yourself getting frustrated at your reactions in these difficult times or talking to yourself negatively in your head when things feel out of control. Cut yourself some slack. Remind yourself that you are doing the best you can. Make time every day for at least one thing you enjoy, whether it's a phone call, a good song or a piece of cake. Think about setting intentions as you get up in the morning or writing down three things you are grateful for every evening (don’t see this act of kindness as weird, or be rolling your eyes at it), if you can’t think of 3 then start with 1 and then build up from there. It can be whatever you want it to be, so long as it is a grateful thought for yourself.

We are all in this together, and we all benefit from giving and receiving a little kindness.