Kindness as Medicine

Here is a clarion call from life begging us to be kind to ourselves. And though this might seem like strange advice, nonetheless it a great one to heed right now.

We are living in unusual times, pandemics, lockdowns, masks, social distancing, fear, and an epidemic of sadness across the globe, where many are feeling rough, closed off, and shut-in.

We need a global solution today. There has been a desperate search for a cure, so far none has been found, and I strongly believe that it is because what we need will not be found outside of ourselves, but rather with humanity’s own inbuilt survival intervention.  And so many are saying ‘life is rough,’  however, life is awesome, incredible, amazing, magnificent, and kind.  But, if you are one of those caught up in the daily doses of negative news, and other fear-filled media, life will indeed appear unkind and hopeless.

So, if we each heeded the Call to be kind to ourselves, we would start to reflect on things which we often take for granted, such as, our breath. Each breath comes to us gently on the inhale, filling our lungs with fresh air, and a new opportunity to breathe again and again. This kindness allows us to be alive today. In such an awareness, we can then afford to be kind to ourselves, to be grateful, to hope, and to reach out.

Kindness to oneself in this conscious way creates a well-needed pause. It stirs the heart, enabling us to see and appreciate the goodness around us, amidst whatever bad is seemingly happening in the world at large.

Being kind to ourselves means that we are actually caring for ourselves, this causes us to feel better about ourselves and others. And as we become more mindful, we become less angry, less fearful, and more positive. Our immune systems tend to get stronger so that we are now better equipped internally to cope and manage in our external world.

Being kind to oneself means choosing to eat healthily,  drinking lots of water, doing regular exercise, getting enough sleep, rest, and fresh air.

Kind thoughts work like medicine and are good for one’s overall wellbeing. When we are kind to ourselves we disallow worry, fear, or doubt to influence our outlook and choices.

Kindness eliminates fatigue and antagonism. By doing small deliberate acts of kindness, we detoxify stress for ourselves, this helps to raise our vibration high above the threshold of unkindness and useless infertile arguments that often vexes one’s soul.

So as we endeavor towards spending more time in the practice of being kind to ourselves, we will begin to heal ourselves and to cultivate a mighty charge on the planet, towards harvesting healing for our world.

Written by Reverend Dawnecia Palmer, November 2020.