Did you know that it is Random Acts of Kindness Week?
Kindness is a way we can all get into a heart/brain coherent state more easily. HeartMath defines physiological coherence as a state when your cardiovascular, respiratory, endocrine, and nervous systems within your body sync up. When they align and work together, these systems operate more efficiently for your health. HeartMath has been researching heart/brain coherence for close to 30 years and has accumulated a substantial body of evidence that uplifting or renewing emotions such as care, compassion, appreciation, and/or love can improve both physical and mental health. (Click here for details about the benefits to your health) HeartMath has also gathered much information on the social and global impacts of shifting into a coherent state. This is where random acts of kindness can powerfully help.
What Do Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Look Like?
One of the easiest ways to elevate your level of coherence is to practice random acts of kindness. However, what makes this a bit more challenging is that we are so busy, harried, and stressed out in our own lives, that someone else in distress might not even register on our radar. However, if we pause and breathe and then take a moment to look around and become aware of who might need random acts of kindness, it will shift our internal state at the same time we are benefitting others. The key is to make this a habit by doing it daily and not expecting something in return. There will be some days when you might need to be the recipient of your own random act of kindness. This is not selfish, it is called SELF CARE.
There are many ways to easily add RAK to your life. For me, recently, it was letting someone who looked harried get in front of me in a grocery store line. For my dear friend Betty, it was taking the time to call a corporate office to make sure a good employee got noticed or writing a sweet note to someone in need.
I would love to hear your examples of random acts of kindness. Can you reply and tell me something you did recently that qualifies? If you are on Facebook or other social media, we can use the Hashtag…. #MakeKindnessTheNorm and help the Kindness Movement. Are you with me?
Little Things Add Up
As some of you know I was a school teacher and continue to work with teachers as they deal with the stresses of being in the classroom. It is an unspoken rule that teachers are expected to provide their students daily with ways to be kind. There is an organization that is helping teachers and others across the world with simple activities and inspiration for this idea of RAK. Here is the link to Random Acts of Kindness Foundation.
I am working to help teachers stay physically and emotionally healthy so that they are able to continually provide students with RAKs and model this for their students. It is easier to be this way when we become more aware of the thoughts and emotions that are either depleting or renewing our internal batteries. Here is a HeartMath practice I am sharing with them that you might find helpful as well. Keep a journal for one week that looks like the picture below. Notice what is draining your emotions. When you are feeling drained then you can practice Quick Coherence, a HeartMath tool to replace the draining thought or emotion with a renewing thought or emotion.
Here is a short video I created for the teachers on doing the HeartMath Quick Coherence Practice. Try it out and see if it helps you more spontaneously do Random Acts of Kindness.
