In these uncertain times the importance of kindness has rapidly risen and along with it, the importance of looking after our own and others mental health. Research shows that performing even small acts of kindness can improve your emotional wellbeing, reduce stress and even help to benefit your physical health!

Kindness is an activity that should be a staple in everyday life and even more so now, as kindness helps to combat isolation, something many people find themselves in right now.

Here are some acts of kindness IPRS Health suggest doing to not only improve your own mental health, but to help others:       

Listen

Listen to others, even if you don’t know them. You may be the only person they have spoken to recently

Offer and accept Help

Offer your support to someone (friend or stranger) who may look as if they need assistance and allow people to help you in return. This may be as simple as taking a few extra seconds to wait and hold open a door to someone. This simple act of kindness allows people to experience a more balanced mental health.

Give people a chance

Give people a second chance if they do something that you might not particularly like. If someone's driving is frustrating you and wants to cut across to your lane don’t assume the worst, they may simply have misunderstood their directions!

Be aware

If somebody looks lonely, start a conversation with them. You might just make their day better, this is especially important during these isolating times where family and friends are having the be kept away from one another

Phone a friend

In this era, texts, emails and instant messaging apps have become the primary source of communication, to the point where we forget what some people actually sound like! Talking to somebody on the phone can not only strengthen your relationship with them, but it allows you to express and feel emotions on a deeper lever that you can’t do over a text or Facebook message. Although in these unprecedented times, we have had to become more reliant on communicating through social media and texting, there is nothing stopping us from picking up the phone and having a chat!

Return compliments

Instead of replying with “no worries” or “it’s no big deal” perhaps answer by returning a compliment back. You could make a point to acknowledge others that may have been of assistance and don’t take all the credit if others supported you, or just reply with a “not a problem, that means a lot coming from you!”.

Kindness should be celebrated and encouraged in all its forms, and it is celebrated globally uniting us all around the world.