Resources on Practicing Kindness

Books:
The Force of Kindness: Change Your Life with Love and Compassion by Sharon
Salzberg
The Miracle of Kindness: Changing the World, One Act at a Time by Jim Kok.
The Power of Kindness: The Unexpected Benefits of Leading a Compassionate Life
by Piero Ferrucci

Websites:
Random Acts of Kindness Foundation http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/
Lots of ideas for a variety of settings. Videos, newsletters, stories of
kindness, resources.
Australian Kindness Movement http://www.kindness.org.au/sixteen-days-of-
kindness.html
This particular page of the site has ideas for The 16 Days of Kindness
program. Could be adapted for older adult residential settings.
Spirituality and Practice: Resources for the Spiritual Journey: Kindness
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/practices/practices.php?id=17
Many resources from quotes, books, films, ideas to practice.
One Million Acts of Kindness http://www.onemillionactsofkindness.com/
Primarily aimed at school programs, but has a tab for ideas of linking
seniors and children around kindness.
Self-Compassion: A Healthier Way of Relating to Yourself http://www.self-
compassion.org/
Some videos on self-kindness and compassion, guided meditations and
reflection exercises.

Care and Kindness http://www.careandkindness.org/

The website for Care and Kindness conferences and newsletters, Jim Kok,
founder.
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 Creating a Climate of Kindness
Suggested Activities or Actions or Tasks

Discussion
Giving to others is one part of the spiritual practice of kindness. Another is being
able to receive graciously the gifts of another? Which are you better at?
Kindness is contagious. Share a story of a time when you caught an impulse to
be kind from another person. When have you influenced others to be kind?
Is kindness valued in our community? In our contemporary society? How can we
encourage kindness?

Kindness Challenge
Invite folks to consciously do an act of kindness each day
Secret? The action is anonymous
Follow-up with a Gratitude Board that invites people to express their
Gratitude for acts of kindness they have experienced

Buddhas Seven Offerings that cost nothing are

a compassionate eye, a smiling face, loving words, physical service, a warm heart,
a seat and lodging. Invite people to increase the number and frequency of their
kindness offerings.

Video
Babe, a delightful Australian film that celebrates the dignity and variety of
animals. Babe uses affirmation to keep the sheep moving. His spiritual practice of
kindness works wonders in the end. Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Not One Less Directed by Zhang Yimou Columbia TriStar 02/00 DVD/VHS Feature Film G
A young schoolteacher in China goes on a mission of mercy and has to rely upon
the kindness of strangers.

Vow or Blessing
Recalling how nice it is to receive compliments, I vow to praise someone as an act
of kindness today.
Blessed is the Gracious Creator who has established kindness as a healing balm in
everyday life.

Breath Prayer
Breathing in: May I reach out
Breathing out: with kindness

Journal
Write a portrait of The Kindest Person I Know

Books

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 The Community of Kindness
Reconnecting to Friends, Family and the World through the Power of Kindness
Editors of Random Acts of Kindness. Conari Press 02/99 Paperback $10.95. ISBN: 1-57324-148-2

The Healing Power of Kindness

Jean Maalouf Twenty-Third Publications 2003 Hardcover $9.95 ISBN: 1585952621

Art
The Flower Carrier by Diego Rivera. A kneeling man is burdened by a large
basket of flowers on his back. A woman lends support, adjusting the balance of
the load. It is a small act, but a helpful and kind one.

Quotes
Kindness trumps greed: it asks for sharing. Kindness trumps fear: it calls forth
gratefulness and love. Kindness trumps even stupidity, for with sharing and love,
one learns. Marc Estrin quoted in Prayers for a Thousand Years edited by Elizabeth
Roberts and Elias Amidon

Be kind to people whether they deserve your kindness or not. If your kindness
reaches the deserving, good for you; if your kindness reaches the undeserving,
take joy in your compassion. James Fadiman and Robert Frager in Essential Sufism

Great things happen, blessed encounters take place when you throw yourself on
God's mercy and peoples' kindness. Jose Hobday in Stories of Awe and Abundance

There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own
brain, our own heart is our temple; my philosophy is kindness. The Dalai Lama

The kindnesses of others fertilize our soul, they become a part of who we are, and
we carry them and their love. We feel this when people die, how their gifts remain
alive in us. Wayne Muller in How, Then, Shall We Live?

If there is any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow
being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way
again. William Penn quoted in Lent by Megan McKenna

Practice kindness, particularly when you feel irritated or things are not going
well. Kindness hardly ever goes wrong. Lewis Richmond in Work as a Spiritual
Practice

Prepared by Pastor Patrice A Nordstrand

Chaplain, Walnut Village, Anaheim CA

Resources drawn mainly from

http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/practices/practices.php?id=17