Is kindness our superpower?
A few weeks ago I had a meeting with another business woman in my town. She is such a lovely person. And I can’t remember how, but we got onto the subject of being kind. She told me a client had recently told her to stop being so kind, it wasn’t good for business.
My little brain doesn’t understand that. I have to argue that isn’t kindness what we need in the world right now? Now more than ever?
Especially as women. We’ve been taught to be mean to ourselves (too much fat, too many wrinkles, not enough boobs, and now, too kind!). It makes me think of America Ferrera’s iconic speech in the Barbie movie (watch it here). Imagine the change in the world if being kind was respected. If we weren’t made to feel so bad about ourselves. If self-compassion was the default?
I don’t know about you, but I’ve spent so much of my life trying to be a little bit more manly. Like in business, trying to remember to not write in an email, “I’m just wondering why” and instead write, “Why!” Shake hands with a firm grip. Try not to sound too girly.
But it makes me wonder, why do we have to change ourselves to be taken seriously? Why aren’t sterotypically feminine qualities respected? Why can’t we be soft and kind without being bulldozed? I’m just wondering.
What if we agreed to spend the next week being kind to ourselves. Really kind. Instead of beating ourselves up for not getting everything on the to-do list done we stroked our own hair and said, “you’ve done your best, maybe it’s time for a rest?”
I’m going to give it a try. Will you? Comment “Yes!” below.
Yoga Pose of the Week
Warror II might be my favourite yoga pose. I love how you can flow from it into lots of other poses. Plus it makes me feel strong & powerful. To do it, stand with your feet wider than hip width apart. Your back toes face the long edge of the mat. The front toes the short edge. Face as much as your body as you can to the long edge. Bend your front knee and sweep your arms up to shoulder height. Look over front fingers. Click here to watch a video I made a few years ago with Warrior II in it. (P.S. I wasn’t wearing pink and the photo looked strange so I added some 😜)
Yoga Philosophy of the Week
May has turned out to be my busiest month of the year. I’ve been given lots of opportunities for my business, I’m heading to Perth for some training for my library job, and I’ve got a few personal things going on too. I spoke to my psychologist about the anxiety I have been feeling about how much is on my plate. She reminded me that I have gotten through these busy times before and I will again. It reminds me of the yoga tenant, tapas. That’s the dedicated effort and perseverance in pursuing self-improvement. How do you use tapas in your life?
Mindful Moment of the Week
I hosted my one-day retreat with the theme of contentment and gratitude last weekend. The main activity of the day was creating “a pocketful of gratitude”, in other words a mini-book full of things that you feel grateful for. My guests used magazines, stickers, photos, pens & paper to create their mini books. The time flew by as they delved into the things that make them feel grateful.
