Friday Weekly Kindness RecapHappy Friday! We hope you've had a wonderful week spreading kindness to yourself and others. We'd love to hear about how your week went, use our #iChoose2BeKind when posting on social media, or you can post a comment on our blog. Here is your recap of the week of August 26 - August 23: Five Acts of Kindness. How much kindness did you spread this week? Did you complete all five challenges? How did it make you feel? What did your grandpa say? We'd love to hear about it, remember to use #iChoose2BeKind when posting on social media. You can also let us know by posting a comment on our blog. Blog Post: Monday Kindness August 19, 2019 KindNews. Studies have found, reading about kindness and seeing kind acts can change your entire outlook. This week we posted three inspiring links:
Blog Post: Self-Kindness Reduces Anxiety Kindness in Action. Post your pictures using #iChoose2BeKind or #KindnessInAction and we will post them to our blog & social media channels!
Article on Kindness. Having an attitude of gratefulness shifts our focus from what we lack in life to appreciating what we presently have in our lives. Read Counting Blessings Versus Burdens a research paper by psychologists by Michael McCullough and Robert Emmons. Blog Post: A Simple Way to Teach Students to be More Grateful Until next time... be thoughtful, be present, be kind.
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Kristin Neff, associate professor at the University of Texas in the department of educational psychology, is an intricate part of the Self-Kindness (A.K.A Self-Compassion) movement. Professor Neff, formulated a compassion scale to help us determine how "individuals display self-kindness against self-judgment, common humanity versus isolation, and mindfulness versus over-identification." New research has determined that self-compassion has numerous positive effects on our wellbeing. According to Psychology Today, self-compassion can give you "greater life satisfaction, increase emotional intelligence, interconnectedness with others, wisdom, curiosity, happiness, and optimism. Self-compassion is also associated with less self-criticism, depression, anxiety, fear of failure, and perfectionism." Sounds like a win-win! So, if you show yourself kindness, then you are more likely to show it to others! We challenge you to do these three acts of kindness for yourself this week:
Until next time... be thoughtful, be present, be kind.  Gratitude. Thankfulness. Counting your blessings. Appreciating everything you see and have. Acknowledging simple pleasures. Having an attitude of gratefulness shifts our focus from what we lack in life to appreciating what we presently have in our lives. A study by two psychologists, Michael McCollough of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and Robert Emmons of the University of California at Davis, concluded that giving thanks daily makes people happier, more resilient, creates stronger relationships, reduces stress levels, and improves overall health. Intentional. We must be intentional if we want to develop a grateful attitude in ourselves and our students. Journaling or listing out five things you are grateful for every day is a simple and easy way to develop an attitude of gratefulness. We have created a simple printable gratitude journal for you to use with your students. Share. Let us know what you and your students are grateful for by posting a comment below or sharing with us on Facebook and Twitter.   "Be the change you want to see in the world." How many of you have seen these words by Gandhi? Now for the hard question, how many of you have actually taken action? We've all been guilty of complaining about the way things should be or should not be, and sometimes we are just venting but, there comes a time when you have to decide to make a change. Last week, we told you about our plan to help spread more kindness in the world through various weekly challenges. Today, our team is taking action and being apart of the change we want to see in the world. Our Founder, Justina Bryant, often asks students and teachers, "Are YOU willing to make a change? Are YOU willing to step forward and be the person who is kind to others? Do YOU want to make a change at your school? Do YOU want to help your school become a kinder place to be? If yes, then YOU must begin with you. Don't tell others to be kind; show them kindness first." Now the 21 Day Kindness Challenge team asks you, are YOU willing to step up and make your world a kinder place? If yes, then do ALL of the following acts of kindness this week. Monday, August 19, 2019 Monday Challenge: 5 Intentional Acts of Kindness
Report back and tell us how it felt to be kind to others. Comment on our blog or social media using the #ichoose2bekind Until next time... be thoughtful, be present, be kind.   Let's face it; the things we are reading about in the news makes the world seem so unkind. While we acknowledge there is a time and place for such reporting but, recent studies show good news is more important to our mental health.
Is Constantly Reading the News Bad for You?, an article published in Time Magazine, states, "More than half of Americans say the news causes them stress, and many report feeling anxiety, fatigue or sleep loss..." The article goes on to say news reporting has undergone significant changes in the past 15-20 years, and these changes have been detrimental to mental health. Good News. The team at 21 Day Kindness Challenge has come up with a plan to help spread the news about the good things happening in the world! Our Plan to Help Make a Change. Every weekday, we will post on our social media channels (and sometimes our blog) the following:
Change Your View. Keep up with it all, and we promise you will see a lot more kindness happening in the world around you. Tell Us. We'd love it if you can share your thoughts and pictures with us! Until next time... be thoughtful, be present, be kind.  Have you ever received a "thinking of you" letter or a card in the mail? Or how about a birthday card from someone you haven't seen in a long time? Doesn't it feel so good to know others are thinking about you? Well, we suggest you do something similar for your incoming students.
We know that this may sound like an overwhelming task (especially for middle school and high school teachers), but we promise it will be something your students and families will always remember. And it WILL start your year off on a kinder note. Also, we recommend you send a handwritten card that you put in the mailbox NOT just send an email. Families get so many emails these days that your act of kindness might get lost. :) What are you waiting for, make a plan, and turn that plan into action! Set yourself up for success and grab these items: - Ask for a list of your student's, parent's names, and their addresses - Blank lined paper or blank note cards - Your favorite pen or two - Envelopes - Stamps Now start your kindness letter writing! Are you not sure how to start? Keep it informal and let your students and their families know that you are excited to meet them! You can also tell them about your summer. You can write to them about how you are focusing on kindness this year and some activities that you might be doing. Be sure to ask questions and invite them to write you back. You can make your letter writing more fun by doing one (or all) of the following: 1. Put on your favorite movie. What could be more fun than writing kindness letters while watching your favorite movie?!? Make sure it's one you've seen before so you won't get distracted. 2. Invite others to join you. Make this the first annual welcome to school kindness letter-writing party. Invite other teachers to join you, bring music snacks and drinks! Host it at your house, a park, in your classroom, or your school library. 3. Light a candle and be mindful. Practice being mindful when you write your kindness letters. In some meditation practices known as candle meditation or Trataka, you light a candle during your meditation to help you be more present and still. You can try this and think about the "light" (kindness, joy, peace, happiness) you want to bring to your student's lives this year. 4. Be one with nature. Take your supplies and head out to a local park or your favorite hiking spot. Getting outside and breathing in all the outside beauty will inspire you when writing your kindness letters. We would LOVE to hear how your letter writing went and how your families received them! We hope you make welcome kindness letters part of your annual planning and preparing for the future school years. Remember, change starts with you. In the words of Gundi, "Be the change you want to see in the world." Until next time... be thoughtful, be present, be kind. |
