Part of Health and wellbeingMental and emotional wellbeing
Kindness means thinking about how other people feel and how we can make them feel good.
Being kind is when you make an effort to make someone smile or improve their day somehow.
Kindness can help everyone:
Just thinking about kindness can change how you feel.
Wellbeing professional, Lorna Walker, explains how we can remember and imagine acts of kindness to improve our mood.
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One of the things that I find most interesting about kindness is that it can help you change things. It can help us change things for ourselves and for others. And it can help us change how we are feeling. It had real power in it.
The other thing that's good to know about kindness is that it's a strength that you can grow. The power of kindness can start in our minds.
We are going to use our memory and our imagination to connect to kindness.
Just try and think about a time when someone did something for you that was really kind. Maybe they helped you with something, or just spent some time listening to you, or said something to you that cheered you up when you weren't feeling so good.
So think of that time right now. Picture the person involved, what they did.
Just play it over in your mind. How does it feel?
Maybe even remembering it makes us feel cared for or valued or even a bit happier.
Now think about someone in your life that you care about and maybe imagine doing something kind for them, something that would make them feel just how you felt. It doesn't have to be big, even something really small can change how someone feels, can change their day.
So just take a moment imagining doing this kind thing for this person you care about. Imagine how they might react. Maybe they will be surprised. Maybe they will smile. Now notice how that feels. Does it also feel good to think about doing something kind for someone else?
Isn't that so amazing?
Remembering or thinking about kindness can change how you feel. So spend some time just thinking about the kindness that you would like to share it with others because kind thoughts, lead to kind feelings which lead to kind actions and kind actions can make everyone happier.
Connect to kindness by remembering a time when someone did something for you that was really kind.
Some examples of acts of kindness to get you started:
Imagine doing something kind for someone you care about.
It doesn't have to be big, even something really small can change how someone feels.
Step one
Imagine doing a kind thing for a person you care about.
Step two
Think about how they might react. Will they be surprised? Will they smile?
Step three
Notice how it feels. Does it also feel good to think about doing something kind for someone else?
Find out more by working through a topic
How to connect with others and ourselves
How to deal with change
How to deal with worry
How to feel more hopeful