June 26

Check in

Kindness can improve our mental wellbeing

Being kind to others can help your well being go a long way. Even a small gesture of kindness, like putting away the dishes after a meal or saying ‘thank you’ and ‘please’, create a sense of positivity within us. Science and our own experiences show us that kindness can reduce stress, strengthen friendships and relationships, and make us and the recipients of our kindness feel better.

Here are today’s check in questions:

What is one thing you are grateful for?
Try to remember the last time someone showed kindness to you. How does it make you feel?

The Activities section below can help you with ideas for acts of kindness!

Activities

Volunteer! (you can do it from home, too)

You can volunteer from your home, too with these sites.

Other ideas:

Donate to your food banks (this is California’s overarching one): http://www.cafoodbanks.org/
Donate to mental health organizations:
- https://www.nami.org/About-NAMI/Donate-to-NAMI
- verywell mind Leading Mental Health Charities & Organizations: https://www.verywellmind.com/leading-mental-health-charities-and-organizations-4147842
COVID-19 giving guide: https://www.forbes.com/sites/morgansimon/2020/04/14/covid-19-giving-guide-how-to-donate-to-reach-the-most-marginalized/#1d8e93f51a72

Random Acts of Kindness

The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation has a bunch of ideas and challenges for being kind even when we’re at home. Check out their at-home challenge! You can download the pdf booklet here:

* All content belongs to the The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation