The Kindness Box

Films about kindness -

I'd like to offer up a video playlist to remind all of us about the power of empathy, kindness, and human connections. It's always a good time to practice gratitude for the relationships that sustain us all -- for the people who have taught us in a school setting and beyond, and for the young ones we are able to nurture and inspire.

I was also thinking about how many of us are living out the paradox of being ever more plugged in, and ever more aware of what's happening in our community via social media platforms, while at the same time, face-to-face interactions are less frequent than ever before. We are in constant touch, but barely touching. Watching these videos made me remember the importance of re-connecting, treating people with kindness and respect, and being generous and compassionate to both loved ones and strangers. If each of us pledged to do more of that, we'd make a better world for all of us to learn and grow in.

5-Minute Film Festival: Videos on Kindness, Empathy, and Connection

Enjoy!

Promoting Prosocial Behaviors

Humans are born with prosocial behaviors. Each time we do a prosocial act, our brain releases chemicals that make us feel good, and those same chemicals enhance learning.

According to a study from the Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development, “Prosocial behavior is linked positively to classroom grades and standardized test scores.” Using prosocial behaviors in the classroom improves learning outcomes for students. Here are three prosocial behaviors you can use today in your classroom: gratitude, kindness, and empathy.

Read the rest of the article -

Promoting Prosocial Behaviors in the Classroom

When general education students and students with special needs play together, it breaks down unconscious biases about disability and fosters relationships.

Why Inclusion Matters on the Playground

Cheers!

why inclusion matters - YouTube

Here is one video you may enjoy -


All the best!

Kindness thorough their eyes

This video is from that previous site - scrolled down to the links at bottom of page -

Kindness Through Their Eyes | Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education

Also check-out the menus at top of page!

Enjoy!

“You don't do kind deeds expecting kindness in return. You don't do kind deeds because you deem the recipient worthy. You do kind deeds because it's who you are, and because you understand the powerful difference your gentle hand makes in this dreary world.” - Richelle E. Goodrich-

“Arrogance, disrespect and demand have higher price.
Kindness, respect and tact give better prize.” - Angelica Hopes-

“In this world in which we live simplicity and kindness are the only magic wands that work wonders” -L. Frank Baum-

“I have seen flowers come in stony places
And kind things done by men with ugly faces,
And the gold cup won by the worst horse at the races,
So I trust, too.” - John Masefield-

“If you have the chance to make people happy, just do it. Sometimes people are struggling silently. Maybe, your act of kindness can make their day.”-- Author Unknown

Dacher Keltner kindness

Leads us here -

I was really lucky to grow up with a a couple of parents who were very experimental and very open to radical ideas and new ideas.

My mom was a literature professor and a social activist. I think if I were to say what she really got me interested in -- in addition to things like yoga and massage and alternative foods in the late '60s when people just didn't do those kind of things -- was compassion. To this day, she is interested in the sectors of our society that suffer and the nature of human suffering and volunteering in prisons and teaching people who don't have access to things like that. She was a literature professor, and as Molly, my wife, who's back there, will tell you, my mom is sort of steeped in the humanities where proof isn't as important as interesting discourse. I think in many ways, she was interested in consciousness, because she studied Virginia Woolf, who was one of the great Western experimenters of human consciousness in the written word.

Then, my dad was just as experimental. He was an artist. Ever since I was a young kid, I would find sanctuary in museums and look at paintings. I remember some of my most early compelling experiences were looking at paintings by the Dutch masters or Jan Steen or just looking at how they portray human joy, and just looking carefully at the aesthetic portrayal of emotion. Again, my dad was an artist.

What Science Taught Me About Compassion, Gratitude and Awe, by Dacher Keltner

All the best!

“Kindness went out to play all on a summer's day. With her about many smiles came out and joined in sweet array.” - Sara Loo

“What is the right tool, the best option, the choicest gift, the winning hand, the greatest relief, the finest revenge, the sweetest drink, the perfect response, the working solution, the strongest medicine?

The correct answer is kindness.” - Richelle E. Goodrich-

Comes from this blog -

Blog - Janelle Johnston

Cheers!

A whole section of this website is about the practice of kindness -

Kindness as a Spiritual Practice | Spirituality & Practice

Quotes & book excerpts & films & teaching stories and more!

Well worth a visit IMHO ...

"Be kind because although kindness is not by a long shot the same thing as holiness, kindness is one of the doors that holiness enters the world through, enters us through — not just gently kind but sometimes fiercely kind.

Enjoy!

That site also has some "galleries" - images & quotes & links to books about kindness -

"Practice kindness, particularly when you feel irritated or things are not going well."

~ Lewis Richmond

"A kind word is like a spring day."

~ Russian proverb

Galleries – 12s Index | Spirituality & Practice

All the best!

From those galleries -

In more than 20 years of practice as a therapist and spiritual counselor, Wayne Muller has enabled people to tap the divine source within and to make use of the wisdom learned from pain. In "How, Then, Shall We Live" he focuses on four questions which are at the center of the human journey: Who am I? What do I love? How shall I live, knowing I will die? What is my gift to the family of the earth?

Muller's enlightening meditations on these questions are filled with quotations and stories from world religions. He skillfully balances inner growth with outward service as he shows how our lives can be enriched by the spiritual practices of kindness, gratefulness, giving and receiving, attention, simplicity, and remembering. "How, Then, Shall We Live" vividly and compellingly describes what a path with heart really means.

How, Then, Shall We Live? by Wayne Muller | Review | Spirituality & Practice

Enjoy!

Kindness trumps greed -

Quote by Marc Estrin: “Kindness trumps greed: it asks for sharing. Kin...”

Enjoy!

“Kindness is a calling. Caring about people is powerful. Love changes lives.” -Rachel Hamilton-

“Mercy is to care, and care very deeply about one another. It is to care to the point where we are prepared to be involved with the sufferings and adversities of others. It implies that I am prepared to put myself in the other person's place. It means that I shall try to really understand why they behave as they do, even though it injures me. It is a willingness to walk a mile in the other man's moccasins before I criticize his conduct. It is the extension of good will, help, forgiveness, compassion and kindness to one who may not seem to deserve it.” - W. P. Keller

“I've been treating you with courtesy and respect because that's the way I choose to treat everyone. But never, ever mistake kindness with weakness.” - Louise Penny-

“Kindness is more than deeds. It is an attitude, an expression, a look, a touch. It is anything that lifts another person.” -C.Neil Strait-

“Kindness and caring are ambrosia for the soul.” - Amy Leigh Mercree

“Authentic kindness has a power greater than rock, paper and scissors combined.” -Toni Sorenson-