Don’t forget yourself when you are being kind

I listened to a recording of a conversation with Mark Rowland, CEO of the Mental Health Foundation, as part of a panel on mental health yesterday. He said that during the pandemic, 2/3 of people had experienced an act of kindness offered to them, but less tha half considered that they had shown kindness to themselves.

It didn’t really surprise me. We are usually our worst critics and good at dropping ourselves down our list of priorities. So while research shows that acts of kindness and compassion towards others definitely have benefits for you too in reducing stress and improving wellbeing, it’s important to make sure we don’t overdo it! 

It’s very easy to give away all of our energy, especially if we are finding things hard and want to focus on others. Whatever you can manage is good enough.  Try to tune out the voice of judgement and comparison and tune in to the voice that says you are enough.  Kindness has to start with you.

• Prioritise some “me” time, so you can relax and reflect on how you’re feeling and how your day or week has been so far 

• Try meditation or mindfulness

• Turn off from your social media channels for a day, or even a week 

• Treat yourself to something small

• Do something you enjoy, like reading a novel or listening to your favourite song

• Spend some time in nature - even if its just to open the window and listen to the outdoors