This month on Headspace, we’ve been encouraging you to take on 100 Kinds of Kindness, so this week on Radio Headspace, it felt like it was time to practice what we preached.

 

Along with the help of the wonderful Shannon and Will, who both work at Headspace on either side of the Atlantic, and Corey, who has been a guest on Radio Headspace before, and who I subsequently managed to rope into this, the four of us set out to each put 25 acts of kindness out into the world in one week, with the aim of reaching 100 kinds of kindness between us.

It was something of a tall order, but I compiled a list of suggestions (with some help from the internet) to get us started. It included things like:

  1. Fold your roommate’s laundry
  2. Buy someone a cup of coffee
  3. Offer someone your seat
  4. Compliment a stranger
  5. Leave a note for your server/ bartender
  6. Call someone who misses you just to make their day
  7. Take food to the homeless
  8. Volunteer your time at a local charity
  9. Ask a stranger about their day
  10. Put change in the washer/dryer for the next person at the laundromat
  11. Write a thank you letter to your parents/ a teacher from when you were a kid
  12. Make some baked goods for your office/ neighbor
  13. Make breakfast for your partner or housemate
  14. Visit a senior center or nursing home
  15. Pick up trash
  16. Donate one of your favorite possessions
  17. Leave your favorite book in a public place with a note
  18. Pick up the check for someone eating out alone
  19. Put $10 on a random gas pump
  20. Send anonymous flowers to someone who deserves to smile
  21. Tip an extra dollar on your morning coffee
  22. Send a nice card/ postcard to a family member, just because
  23. Let someone get ahead of you in line
  24. Babysit
  25. Give a lottery ticket to a stranger
  26. Run an errand for someone
  27. Give something awesome away on craigslist
  28. Leave chocolate for your co-worker
  29. Write a nice Yelp review
  30. Donate blood
  31. Cook dinner for a busy parent/ roommate/ friend
  32. Share your last bit of your favorite food
  33. Leave random notes on people’s cars saying nice things

 

But are we born inherently kind? Does it make a difference if we feel close to our communities? Dr Claudia Aguirre returned to Radio Headspace this week to explain kindness and the brain.

So how many did we get through? Listen and find out on iTunes or through the player above.