Mental Health Awareness Week 2020: Be kind to yourself, and others

This week is Mental Health Awareness Week (18th-24th May) in the UK and this year’s theme is “Kindness”. 

The Mental Health Foundation, the founders of Mental Health Awareness Week are an organisation, with a mission to help people understand, protect and sustain their mental health. 

Why kindness? According to the Mental Health Foundation it’s because of “it’s singular ability to unlock our shared humanity. Kindness helps to strengthen relationships, develops a community and deepens solidarity. It is a cornerstone of our individual and collective mental health”. 

With the unprecedented circumstances we find ourselves living in at the moment, being kind to one another forms a connection, which is more important now than ever. 

One thing we have all witnessed globally is the growing awareness of the power of kindness throughout the pandemic surrounding 2020. In the UK we all come together every Thursday to “Clap for our Carers” to show appreciation for key workers and NHS heroes, in Italy we all watched as people came together to sing on their balconies, and across the world people are setting up groups to offer support to the elderly and vulnerable. We have learnt that amid that fear, there is also community, support and hope. 

Spencer Ogden UK is using this week to take a step back and recognise the kindness that we have not only shown each other (our peers, our families, neighbours and strangers) but the kindness that we have shown ourselves. 

Whilst it is important to be kind to others, now more than ever, it is even more important to ‘be kind to yourself. 

At Spencer Ogden, we launched our SOWellbeing programme in 2019, which focuses on our continued commitment to overall wellbeing in the workplace. As part of the programme, at the beginning of the lockdown period we launched ‘Wellbeing Wednesdays’ sharing ideas from our people of what they can do to practice wellness at home. We wanted to recognise how important looking after your wellbeing is now more than ever and even though a majority of us are in lockdown there are still things that we can do to be kind to ourselves. 

Kindness is fundamental to your physical and mental wellbeing. Kindness starts from within and the kinder we are, the stronger, the healthier our mind and body will be. Kindness stimulates the production of serotonin, which calms us and increases happiness. 

In short, this Mental Health Awareness Week, be kind, to yourself and others