Tomorrow, on April 21st, Illuminate Colorado is celebrating A Day of Kindness, where we’ll be sharing ways to be kind to yourself and others throughout the day, as well as updates on how Illuminate Colorado is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ll be kicking things off at 7am on our Facebook page.
The Oxford Dictionary defines kindness as “the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.” When thinking of kindness, all of us can understand this concept in the context of interacting with others. However, we often don’t think about kindness in relation to ourselves.
QUOTE BY CLEO WADE
In Cleo Wade’s book “Heart Talk, Poetic Wisdom for A Better Life” she states, “There is no way to give kindness to another, without knowing it in ourselves first.”
How can we expect to be kind to others if we can’t, first, be kind to ourselves? Tomorrow is not only about sharing kindness with others, it is also about being kind to ourselves. It’s the idea of self-care in this strange and difficult time. What are some of the ways that you’re kind to yourself in the midst of all the craziness?
Perhaps you are a first responder, or essential worker. Or maybe you are working at home while trying to teach children at the same time. Maybe you lost your job during this crisis. Or perhaps you live alone and have temporarily lost physical connection with other people.
Even though some things are out of our control, we can always control how we treat ourselves, and how we treat others. Maybe just the simple act of lowering the expectations for yourself would help in times of stress. Or maybe it helps to take a deep breath, to journal, to exercise, or to make a phone call! Small, simple acts that bring you joy is the key.
To help you get started with one simple act, tomorrow morning at 7am, we’re kicking off our Day of Kindness with a gentle yoga practice led by Bloom Yoga. We invite you to join us as we begin the day by focusing on kindness toward ourselves, first.
We can’t wait for you to join us tomorrow!
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