You may have noticed that the theme for this year's Mental Health Awareness Week is kindness. On Monday, Faye talked about the importance of kindness and making sure you show yourself some - as well as others.
Our very first Positivity & Wellbeing blog post came from Martin, who shared his story about a random act of kindness from a stranger that may have seemed a small gesture to some, but ended up being hugely significant to him.
Everyone, everywhere is navigating their way through life day by day - some days are better than others. And that's the beauty of kindness; by showing it we could have a small positive impact on someone's day, or we could completely turn it around for the better.
By choosing to be kind to others, you're really also choosing to be kind to yourself. Acts of kindness increase serotonin, oxytocin and endorphin levels as we feel good about being kind - there's science behind those warm & fuzzy feelings!
This week, speaking to various other members of the team on how they'd shown kindness to themselves and to others recently, I was warmed by the responses. So many are helping out those less able by getting their shopping, or sending thoughtful gifts to loved ones in the absence of a face-to-face visit.
Or simply getting to know neighbours that they'd only ever exchanged the odd 'hello, how you doing' with. These human interactions could be the only one a person gets in a day.
I hope these acts of kindness continue as 'normal' life starts to resume!
