Kindness. Empathy. Compassion. These are all adjectives that, as an emotionally evolved species, we should be striving to embody as we move through our world, but the fact is that, often, life gets in the way. Daily stresses and strains accumulate, which can lead to harsh judgements of ourselves and others., and we only need to take a look at the world news front pages at the moment for a sobering reminder of where this can lead.
But the science here is clear: being kind is really good for us. Research from the University of Oxford shows that showing kindness to others - both random strangers and those we know and love - benefits wellbeing, while further studies (take a look at this one, published in the journal Current Biology) highlight practicing empathy as valuable for happiness and wellbeing, too.
