Be A Little Kinder Than Necessary

Let me be a little kinder,   Let me be a little blinder  

To the faults of those about me.  

Let me love a little more.  

Let me be when I am weary  

Just a little bit more cheery.  

Let me think more of my neighbor  

And a little less of me.  

author unknown

A truly honest poem with such wise sentiment. How much happier do you feel when you are kind? Sometimes we, as flawed human beings, are so quick to take the knee jerk reaction when something doesn't go the way we had hoped but in fact kindness is the easiest path. Its true it is the hardest at the time but you save yourself the aggravation of the aftermath of anger. The times that I have been involved in conflict I have gone over and over the situation in my head that night, maybe even every night that week. What should I have said? How should I have handled it? What do they think of me? The best way is always kindness. You can never regret that action and it can even change the person you are in conflict with, for the better.

To give you an example, Gracie, my hubby and I were travelling to France over my birthday period and we experienced a really grumpy and difficult lady at security who accused my poor hubs of lying about his liquids, which he was not! She obviously has a very tough job and is under a lot of pressure, airports these days are really no fun however I do not think we merited her aggressive, rather nasty approach. My little monkey was screaming and wriggling on my hip as the lady demanded we unpack our entire handluggage with a cold, stony face and some very unkind words about my mothering skills. I could feel the rage bubbling and gaining momentum inside of me, then I tried to breathe and remember to be kind. In that moment it was so hard, I really couldn't find any compassion inside of me, in fact I wanted to cry. Somehow from somewhere, I managed to compose myself and as we were tediously repacking our luggage I caught her eye, smiled genuinely and said thank you. I saw embarrassment and confusion cross her callous face, then she literally came over and apologised. I could not believe it. Simply by taking the high road and sending positive energy her way she actually recognised her wrongful behaviour. She even waved bye to Gracie and off we went to the departure lounge.

We don't know what others are going through, so try to treat people with kindness. It will change your life too. I used to hold a lot of tension and anger inside me. I have even disliked someone so much it ate away at me and made me into a person my friends and family and even I didn't recognise. Trust me, save your energy for something worth spending your precious time on and let those negative feelings go.

 be kind, find peace

I found some amazing pictures of examples of unexpected, human kindness which really warmed my heart! Check them out;

priceless!!!

absolutely love this - equal view for everyone

cute on another level

that's pretty cool

So this week yogis, we are going to be focussing on detoxifying and getting rid of any negativity that can build up and become stored inside of you, resulting in tension and pain in the body. I know I get very bad lower back pain and my shoulders become incredibly tense when I am stressed or harbouring negativity.

Say a big hello to lots of twists, balances and revolved poses such as Revolved Half Moon pose (Parivrtta Ardha Chandrasana), Eagle pose (Garudasana) and Wide Legged Standing Forward Fold with Twist (Parivrtta Prasarita Padotasanasa) these poses naturally detoxify the body whilst toning the legs and waist and helping core balance.

To cool down after class, you got it we are being "kind" to our bodies in some lovely, calming relaxed postures. Cow facing Pose (Gomukhasana) for me has only just started to be one I enjoy due to those frustratingly tight hips of mine but I know lots of people who love it and its variations as well.

We will also be taking lots of time in heart opening Savasana, basically our regular corpse pose with a block under the shoulder blades to really lift the heart and open up that energy to enable you to fully practise your kindness in and out of the yoga studio.

Why not do a random act of kindness this week? It can be anything at all! Just think if someone does that each day this year then 365 lives will be made that little bit happier! Tag me if you manage to do it @raquellegracie !

So my shout outs this week go to some of the kindest people I have been lucky enough to meet, and each come with a story;

@realmastakilla a member of the Wu Tang Clan, I met him out in LaLa Land aka Los Angeles as an 18 year old girl with a dream that had momentarily just got crushed and I had nowhere to go and no money in my pocket. He didn't know me, we had never met and he offered to pay for a hotel room for me. No strings attached, he was just a genuine, incredible kind man. I bought him breakfast the next day and we became friends. It's a cold world out there in the music biz and this guy is as real as it gets!

@johngiddings01 and @carogiddings (on twitter) also from the music industry. They run an incredibly successful booking and promotions agency called Solo Agency, they also run the Isle Of Wight festival and for a time managed me and my girlband Hope, after the X-Factor (trust me, I was extremely lucky to find these guys) they showed me love and kindness and treated me like a daughter. We are still very close even after all these years and the inevitable twists and turns of the trying industry. I will always be grateful for everything they did for me and I love them both dearly!

@ananddb THIS GUY WOW....Anand is one of my BFFLs (best friends for life)! We met at college many moons ago and started our journey in LA together. He is still there and I miss him so much, it's not often you meet such a genuine and wonderful friend. Anand will no doubt hit the big time as he has already starred in two Hollywood movies, definitely worth following his amazing journey people!