One Kind Act For Yourself

We have focused a lot lately on kind words especially in emotional settings. Now we are going to change it up a little bit. This week’s post is about doing something kind for yourself each day.  Drive through Starbucks and get your favorite drink. Or even go inside and drink your favorite drink while listening to the great music they play. Go on a walk through your neighborhood. Take deep breaths after finishing a tedious task. Take a nice bath after work and add in some bath salt. Read a chapter or two of your favorite book. Just do something to give yourself a break and make your day a little brighter.

Far too often we get caught up in our daily routines and deadlines. We work ourselves all day and either feel nothing at the end of the day or feel terrible. There is nothing wrong with routines, and deadlines are important but being kind to yourself is important too. Break up the monotony of your routine a little bit by doing something for yourself that will make you feel good by the end of the day. We could all use a little more sunshine and happiness in our daily routines and stressful deadlines. Making a practice of this each day will improve your mood for years to come. 

One Kind Thing Towards Others

In the last post, we talked about saying one kind word to yourself. Following this trend we will talk about saying one kind word towards others. Some examples of when this would be relevant are when you are in a difficult situation, feeling distressing emotions, or in conflict in a relationship. We have all in been in one of these situations. Unfortunately, we all know what it is like to react inappropriately and make a bad situation worse, hurt a relationship, or both. One way to help control your emotions is saying one kind word in your head toward the other person. Some examples are “breathe, peace, calm.” This can really help you control your emotions and outward expressions to the other person. When we have both of those under control, we can handle the bad situation better. This is a great solution to having healthier relationships that solve problems instead of fight to the point of exhaustion.

With kindness-

Gwen

One Kind Word To Yourself

A Japanese researcher named Masaru Emoto did a study on water crystals. He and his team took samples from tap water, distilled water, river water, and lake water. They took their water samples from areas close to big cities and far from big cities. They then showed letters and pictures, played music, spoke prayers and kind words to some of the water samples. They exposed other water samples to things that are negative and even ignored some water.  They froze all of the samples and observed the crystals that had formed. The water samples that they showed positive images to, played lovely music, and spoke to nicely had much more beautiful crystals than the other samples. Likewise, the samples from water sources far away from big cities were more beautiful than the samples from sources close to the city. So what does this mean and how is it relevant to this blog or to you?

Our bodies are on average 57-60% water. That means that the things that have a positive effect on water, have a positive effect on our bodies. When we expose the cells of our bodies to negative stimuli we experience negative consequences.  When we envelope our daily lives with positive images, energy, and kind words and music we experience positive results.  Physically speaking one kind word to yourself everyday can have a huge effect on your body, not just on your thoughts, on a very cellular level. Here are some ways you can accomplish this.  If you are stressed tell yourself to breathe. You could say "relax, calm, worthy, courage, strength,” or even “intelligence". If you are angry, speak the words "peace, serenity, stability, solutions" to help ease your anger.  Whatever you are struggling with, find a positive word to counteract it. It will make your life, like the water crystals, much more beautiful.

Here is the website if you want to know more about the water crystals:

http://www.masaru-emoto.net/english/water-crystal.html

With kindness-

Gwen

One Kind Thought

   As you might have read in my last blog post, I am writing about doing One Kind Thing for yourself everyday. It is hard to make radical changes happen quickly in your life. However, slowly making positive changes in your life has an amazing long term affect. I want this blog to really help you understand how impactful being compassionate to yourself can be.

   Our first One Kind Thing assignment is going to be One Kind Thought. We have about 20,000 to 60,000 thoughts a day. How many of yours are negative? I often ask this question to people. The common response is that large portions of their everyday thoughts are negative. Consistently thinking negative thoughts to yourself creates a negative outlook on life for you. So lets switch that! Everyday think one kind thought to yourself. This could be about something great happened at work that you were apart of, or something that you thought would go wrong but actually worked out. Instead of tearing yourself down for the one thing that went wrong in your day, build yourself up for the one thing that went right in your day. Maybe your boss gave you a good report on your progress or the coffee you drank in the morning was a little tastier than normal. When you look at yourself in the mirror at night, instead of thinking about what you do not like about your appearance, think about what you do like. You get the picture. The goal is positivity and consistency. One day at a time you will be one step closer to being a more positive person, which can change your life for the better.

With kindness-

Gwen

The Beginning

I have felt strongly lately that the world has enough troubles in it.  There are wars, invasions, poverty, illnesses, and many other things that take away from the fabric of our lives.  It is my hope with this blog that people will unite and start sharing kind things, whatever those "things" may be.  There are many people already who offer kindness to others, and there are individuals who have already understood and started practicing a greater kindness towards themselves.  So I am jumping on this band wagon and doing my part to encourage you and those you share this blog with to practice more kindness- to others and to yourself.  So let's begin.

In working with people who struggle with depression, anxiety, trauma response, and many other issues, it has become clear that there are no quick fixes.  Not only are there no quick fixes, most people have a hard time making leaps of progress in their lives when it comes to change.  The most effective thing that I have seen working to help individuals is making some small changes consistently.  And this became the origin of "One Kind Thing".  As I have begun assigning the homework, "do one kind thing for yourself today," I have seen people slowly shift their attitudes of self-hatred and punishment, and patterns of perfectionism, and start being more loving, kind, and compassionate with themselves.  Wow, it even shocked me!  What a difference small acts of kindness toward yourself can make.  As I continue this blog I will be sharing some stories from those who are joining the movement, and some stories from my own experience.  I hope that you will share as well, letting me know how you are practicing One Kind Thing each day.  Who knows, maybe our small acts of kindness to ourselves and to others will spread consistently and make a greater impact in the world.

With kindness-

Gwen