How is your "Act of Kindness Challenge" going?
It is interesting that sometimes when we feel we have no energy at all that getting out of our own head and helping someone else is actually what can give us new inspiration, new energy. What is most exhausting for us humans is when we are stuck in the part of our brain where we feel helpless and hopeless. It is by TAKING ACTION that we can change that and access the part of our brain where we feel RESILIENCE. It is the part of our brain, the prefrontal cortex that I call our HERO STATE. We all know it, we have all felt it. It is when even under the most intense challenges we didn't give up but rose to the challenge.
Sometimes getting out of our own head and thinking about doing something for someone else can be the first step into resilience.
Try it out!
Think for a moment of someone you know who might be isolated and lonely right now. Or someone who is needing some recognition right now. Or someone who is stemming the hard work right now. See how it would feel like to reach out and text, or call, or email or write a postcard or a letter. See how you felt before and how you feel after.
You can start a ripple effect of kindness because - like you saw in the TED talk yesterday - when people receive an act of kindness they feel inspired to pay it forward.
What are your ideas?
Imagine that in 10 or 20 years from now someone asks you: "What did you do during Covid-19?" You probably want to have a good story to tell!
Let's start this good story right now!
There are beautiful campaigns right now where people are organizing LETTER WRITING Campaigns for seniors in nursing homes who have to be isolated and can't have visitors right now. Imagine you would write a letter to someone and you could be their HERO. You can help them feel cared for and not forgotten. Feel free to check out this campaign and feel free to sign up with the link below. You can both nominate a senior to receive letters or you can sign up to write a letter to a senior.
Sign up for letters here:
Feel free to look at the "Kids for Peace" Website and their many, many ideas for Acts of Kindness. I love their NEIGHBOR CARD IDEA where you leave the attached cards at a neighbor's door offering your help.
Or check out the following LOVE LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN:
Sign up for writing LOVE LETTERS to people in need here:
My CHALLENGE FOR YOU: What is an Act of Kindness that you are commiting to do? Who is a person who you feel could use some support right now? Where could you offer a helping hand? Please tell me about your experience: avani@naropa.edu We want to collect the best ideas and send them back out to this community so that many people get inspired and that we can create many ripples of kindness ️ TODAY'S ACTIVITIES: - Look at the Letter Writing Campaigns and Websites above - Let yourself be inspired to think about what acts of kindness you could do - Do your acts of kindness and stay very present with how it changes your mood, feelings, energy, and motivation to do something good for others - Write about your experiences with your acts of kindness and send it to: avani@naropa.edu - Print out the attached NEIGHBOR CARE Cards, fill them out and bring them to someone's door.
Also, feel free to check out the Natural Highs Google CALENDAR with daily Natural Highs activities for TEENS:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=83gi6m9jfn9j2noao4gac5adlk%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America%2FDenver If you have joined the Natural Highs Academy after March 30, you can find all the previous exercises and worksheets that you might have missed on: & Materials
Feel free to share any of these resources with anyone - teen or adult - who you think might benefit from daily inspiration and structure during these times. I so look forward to have you be part of the Natural High https://www.naturalhighs.org/post/welcome-to-the-natural-highs-academy Want more Natural Highs Resources? Now, everything in the Natural Highs Store is available for FREE with the Coupon: "coronarelief": Community. We can support each other to make the best of these times Stay strong & inspired ❤️ Avani
