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Narrated by Marie T. Russell.
InnerSelf's Daily Inspiration
February 7, 2024
The focus for today is:
I practice kindness which buffers the effects of negative news on mental health.
Today's inspiration was written by Kathryn Buchanan:
Curious to know whether there was something special about kindness specifically, we tested how people exposed to a negative news story followed by an amusing one (such as swearing parrots or award-winning jokes) fared.
Amusing news stories certainly helped buffer the effects of bad news and reduce the mood disturbances they caused. The group that was shown negative news stories followed by positive ones fared far better than people who were only shown a negative news story. They reported less decline in mood – instead feeling uplifted.
But in comparison, participants who’d been shown acts of kindness reported a more positive mood on average, and a greater belief in the goodness of humanity. This shows us there’s something unique about kindness which may buffer the effects of negative news on our mental health.
CONTINUE READING:
Today's inspiration was adapted from the InnerSelf.com article:
How Kindness Can Counteract the Negative Effects of News
Written by Kathryn Buchanan.
Read the complete article here.
This is Marie T. Russell, co-publisher of InnerSelf.com, wishing you a day of practicing kindness (today and every day)
Comment from Marie: When we practice random acts of kindness, especially when we do so anonymously, our feelings of well-being increase as well as our self-worth.
Our focus for today: I practice kindness which buffers the effects of negative news on mental health.
Subscribe here to join me for the next installment of "InnerSelf's Daily Inspiration".
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About the Author
Kathryn Buchanan, Lecturer, Psychology Department, University of Essex
RELATED BOOK: Meeting the Moment with Kindness
Meeting the Moment with Kindness: How Mindfulness Can Help Us Find Calm, Stability, and an Open Heart
by Sue Schneider
Many of us desire to slow down, quiet the mind and attain greater contact with our lives, but we get stuck in habits and behaviors that don't support our aspirations. This book can help us get unstuck. Meeting the Moment with Kindness offers a roadmap for cultivating seven aspects of mindfulness that can help us access our inherent wisdom, stability and compassion.
Through wisdom teachings, personal stories and evidence-based research, the author offers a pragmatic framework for developing mindfulness and befriending the inevitable obstacles on our path.
For more info and/or to order this book, click here. Also available as a Kindle edition.
