Your Practice

Simple Acts of Kindness

Kindness. It really is a kind of everyday superpower. One simple act of kindness can turn someone’s day around. For both the person doing it and the recipient, kindness offers an instant boost to the spirits. Kindness has the power to build bridges that connect, and one kind act can ripple out into the world, inspiring each person that is touched by it to pay a little kindness forward. Even just a single smile can change the world.

If you do just one thing today, sprinkle kindness like confetti wherever you go.

Cultivating the power of kindness in your life can be as simple as setting the intention to notice its presence in the world. As I was preparing to write this article, kindness was on my mind. I noticed the fellow shopper who, when my son started having a tantrum in the store, gave me a supportive, judgement-free smile and then started chatting to him to help settle his emotions. As I was leaving the store, the greeter told me I am an amazing human being and, in that moment, I felt unbelievably connected to. Finally, my heart burst wide open when I arrived home from my errands to find my neighbour had mowed my front lawn. Wow! Three incredible kindnesses in one short afternoon left me feeling full – of joy, of love, of hope that there are so many good and beautiful people in the world.

Not only does kindness encourage all the good feels, but it is also a key part of yoga. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is held to be one of the foundational ‘textbooks’ outlining the theory and practice of yoga. This classical text provides a practical framework for practitioners and, listed as the very first step on the yoga path, is ahimsa. The literal translation of ahimsa is ‘without harm’ or ‘non-violence.’ A better English translation is ‘kindness.’ Before breathing, or making shapes with the body, or focusing the mind, is kindnessI invite you to nurture your kindness practice.

No matter what else is going on in your life, whether you make it onto your mat or not, choose the kindness approach. I honestly believe that if more and more of us choose to think kind thoughts, speak kind words, and do kind things, the world will become a happier, healthier place. So, if you do just one thing today, sprinkle kindness like confetti wherever you go.

Even just a single smile can change the world.

In case you need a bit of kindness inspiration, here are some simple acts of kindness to slip into your day:

1. 1. Smile at someone
   2. Compliment someone
   3. Give someone a hug
   4. Tell people you love that you love them
   5. Be on time
   6. Send a message to say ‘hi’ or tell someone that they’re important to you
   7. Call your parents and grandparents
   8. Call someone you haven’t for a while, no matter how long it’s been
   9. Call someone for no reason
   10. Forgive someone
   11. Don’t complain
   12. Don’t gossip
   13. Only post positive and supportive comments on social media
   14. Put your phone away in the company of others
   15. Take the time to listen, without interrupting or sharing your thoughts, opinions, and judgements
   16. Attend events that are important to your friends or their children
   17. Invite someone to join you on an outing or to an event
   18. Give someone a thoughtful gift
   19. Talk to someone at a party or event that doesn’t look like they know anyone, or someone that seems shy
   20. Include the newcomer to a group, class, or workplace
   21. Be kind to your server
   22. Get excited about what excites the person you’re talking to
   23. Ask a senior about their past
   24. Ask someone about their day, and be interested in their response
   25. Introduce yourself
   26. Learn people’s names
   27. Chat to your neighbours
   28. Mow your neighbour’s front lawn
   29. Bake something and share it or give it away (at the office, with your neighbours, with a friend)
   30. Make extra of a meal and drop it off for someone who could use the help
   31. Do chores for someone that could use the extra time
   32. Do a favour for someone
   33. Write uplifting messages on post it notes and leave them in library books, on bathroom mirrors, on car windscreens, or in lunch boxes
   34. Stay late for a co-worker who needs to leave
   35. Share your knowledge
   36. Write a thank you note
   37. Make and send a handmade card
   38. Share books, memes, movie names and recipes with your friends
   39. Make note of friends and family members’ important dates
   40. Let someone go ahead of you: in the queue, through the door, in traffic
   41. Stop to let people and animals cross the road
   42. Help someone across the road
   43. Share your umbrella with someone
   44. Give up your seat on the bus or train
   45. Hold the door
   46. Take extra reusable shopping bags to give to anyone that forgot theirs
   47. Help someone struggling with their bags
   48. Offer to return someone else’s trolley
   49. Carpool
   50. Give away coupons or vouchers
   51. Pay for the coffee of the person behind you in the queue
   52. Let managers know when their employees have done a good job
   53. Write a fabulous online review
   54. Be patient and kind to the customer service person on the phone
   55. Support parents of children having meltdowns in public
   56. Forgive a debt
   57. Apologise
   58. Let someone else choose what to watch
   59. Help someone that’s lost something
   60. Offer to take a photo
   61. Take photos of mum friends with their children
   62. Recycle
   63. Use your own reusable water bottle
   64. Take your own reusable coffee cup
   65. Pick up litter
   66. Pick up after your dog
   67. Donate used clothes, books, toys, and household goods
   68. Donate old towels, blankets, and sheets to animal shelters
   69. Plant a tree
   70. Blow bubbles at the park
   71. Teach children about kindness
   72. Keep your word
   73. Be patient and understanding