Nothing makes me more unkindly to people than the pious ‘be kind’ movement.

I hate being told how to behave and the popular hashtag #bekind is very often guilty of bypassing peoples own poor behaviour, smokescreens around transparency and guilt trips.

But today we are reclaiming ‘be kind’ in the name of wellness!

We often think of kindness as beneficial for the recipient but altruism may have more in favour of the giver than we realise.

Possible effects on the nervous system of offering kindness may reduce inflammation – which as we know is both the root and a common marker for most disease.

Kindness feeds the part of the brain that feels reward, interestingly the same part we feed with addiction and addictive behaviours – so it dosn’t seem too far fetched that studies showed acts of kindness worked better than some cognitive behavioural therapies. Donating blood for others hurt less, even with a bigger needle,than giving blood for personal tests in a trail to see if kindness heals pain.

So being kind is nice, dosn’t have to cost a penny and benefits both parties – now how can we do that in yoga?

-Move your mat and make space for each other.

-Share kit and offer to put a neighbours away

-Say hello to new faces as well as pals

-even lift share especially in the darker months.

Something I am incredibly proud of at the commercial gym is the way we have cultivated this brilliantly- a far cry from the snobbery, waist trainers, laxative gobbling, diet tea selling and bitchiness of a local studio I once worked at👀