Kindness is a buzz word which should never go away.

It's free, ready-available and essential for our health and wellbeing.

1. Treat yourself like you would your best friend

Why is it that we're generally kinder to our friends and family than we are to ourselves? We all have an inner voice and if we're honest, it probably doesn't speak to us as kindly as we do our best friend.

Being kind is a skill that can be developed, like training a muscle. One of the best uses of this is to train our inner voice to become kinder.

Try choosing one negative thing you find your inner voice saying regularly and imagine you were talking to your best friend instead. How would you speak differently to them? What would you be saying instead? Next time you hear that inner voice, challenge it and replace it with what you would say to your friend.

Becoming conscious and aware of unhelpful mantras your inner voice is telling you and replacing them one by one with more positive ones will train you to be kinder to yourself on a daily basis.

2. Know the difference between self-care and self-sabotage

Self-care is great and a perfect way to show kindness to yourself. However it's a fairly new concept and w are still getting to grips with what it really means. Make sure you set yourself some clear guidelines for what self-care means to you and what is on your own self-sabotage dressed up as self-care.

If I've had a good week with exercise and generally healthy eating then on Friday night I love to reward myself with a self-care bath complete with Mindful salts, Netflix, wine and a big bowl of ice-cream.

However if it's Tuesday evening and I'm already reaching for the wine and ice-cream instead of yoga, then it's more likely I'm using these comforting treats as a crutch at the end of a tiring day.

Being conscious of this helps me to stop and refocus, knowing that I'll be being kinder to myself and benefit more from taking exercise and the time out to relax. I'll enjoy those treats a lot more at the end of the week knowing that I've put the work in and earned them.

3. Pay it forward

We've just celebrated 'Random acts of kindness' week for 2022 but its needn't stop there. Practising kindness towards others is known to benefit us in so many ways, both mentally and physically. Being kind is though increase our levels of happy hormones Oxytocin and Serotonin, while also reducing the stress hormone Cortisol and even being linked to pain relief through endorphin release*.

Little acts of kindness towards others on a daily basis will lead to a general improvement in health and wellbeing. For inspiration check out the great ideas and monthly calendars at:

https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/kindness-ideas

Penny’s recommendation: Our best self-care product for being kind to yourself

Mindful Bath Salts

This is the perfect accompaniment for a self-care bath.

The blend of magnesium-rich Epsom salts and Himalayan with CBD Frankincense and Bergamot help to cleanse and relax your body while calming your mind and lifting your mood.

*Ref: https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/the-science-of-kindness