Last winter after one of the many snowstorms we had, we were shoveling on the street when our neighbor walked towards us and offered help cleaning up. She said: “A random stranger walking down the street just helped me remove the snow from all over my car, I now would like to pass along the kindness to you.”

This simple moment stuck with me all these months.

Kindness is more than an act. It is a very powerful act that can increase our emotional and physical wellbeing as well as other people’s wellbeing. Kindness is defined as the intentional act of being friendly, generous, and considerate towards others with the aim of contributing something positive or good, without expecting something in return. Kindness combines both kind emotions and behaviors.

Positive Psychology research has stressed multiple benefits related to the frequent practice of kindness. For instance, doing daily acts of kindness increases oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin, and decreases stress hormones, elevating positive moods. Additionally, it also promotes social connections, which has been emphasized as essential for flourishing.

Recently, Lomas and VanderWeele have brought the term Microkindness into the conversion. This is a form of kindness expressed through

… conscious “small gestures motivated by genuine warm feelings for others that benefit another person” or the more-than human world.

These acts are described as “small” because:

• they are short; less than five seconds!
• they involve minimal effort from the person doing them

The added benefit of Microkindness acts is that you can practice multiple of them in a day. Since you wake up, you can engage in small acts of kindness with every person you interact with. Some examples are:

• A smile – to people on the street, colleagues at work, students in the classroom, etc.
• A greeting – a friendly “Good morning” at a supermarket checkout, waving to person passing by, etc.
• A word of thanks
• A moment of recognition or acknowledgment
• Paying for coffee for the person behind you
• Holding the door for the person behind you
• Refilling a cup of water
• Genuinely listening

Kindness is also contagious.

It creates a propagation or ripple effect: when you are kind to one person (or group of people), you impact their emotions and behavioral attitudes, who then consciously or unconsciously go on to act more kindly to another person.

Interestingly, VanderWeele explains that as social creatures, we are inclined to be kind to other people. However, this behavior may not come naturally to everyone, as there are also genetic and personality components in the mix. The good news is that as with any habit, with practice, everyone can excel at microkindness. The key is to start performing these small acts with genuine intention and effort, for a sustained period – like four weeks. Start with one act a day.

By focusing on being kind to the outside, you will soon start noticing the change in the inside.

If each of us is more kind to ourselves, others, and the planet, we will generate a powerful ripple effect that could start lowering social anxiety and loneliness, and increasing overall feelings of happiness.