"Remember to be kind to each other."
- Southwest airlines flight attendant upon landing in DCA, Feb 6, 2025
Being Kind is a particular way of meeting the opposition with style. It can act as a counterbalance to stand in stark contrast to the type of behavior we saw from the Oval Office last week.
A colleague recently signed me up for Nice News and I really appreciate it. Their Feb 17 daily briefing included a piece on how to become a RAKtivist…Random Acts of Kindness Activist. I’m sharing here to fuel your ideas on how you can be kind(er) to everyone in your life, and in turn be a role model for others.
How to become a RAKtivist.
Sharing kindness with others actually helps to change our brains. When you are kind to another person, your brain releases seratonin and dopamine, the same neurotransmitters active when we eat chocolate, laugh with a friend, or exercise. You also receive a push of adrenaline which can help lift your mood for a while. Being kind on a regular basis has long-term effects and can even grow the areas of your brain stimulated by your random acts, which enhances your ability to see opportunities to be kind AND gives you more of all this good stuff when you are kind.
So, in an effort to support your kindness this week, I offer two Loving Kindness meditations. Loving Kindness meditations focus your good energies on others but also yourself, as you visualize your positivity and love surrounding you and flowing out to others. It sounds a little woo-woo, but these practices have been around for centuries. And perhaps a little woo-woo is exactly what we need at this time.
Giving Loving Kindness to Yourself
Sending Loving Kindness to Others