Kindness increases happiness, energy, ‘the love hormone,’ lifespan, pleasure, and serotonin. According to a study from Emory University, being kind to another person creates a phenomenon known as ‘helper’s high.’ Helper’s high is when your brain’s pleasure and rewards center ignites as if you were the recipient of the good deed. Let’s talk about World Kindness Day.
World Kindness Day launched in 1998 by The World Kindness Movement and comprised over 28 nations coming together without religion or politics for this movement. Without meditating on a tough past couple of years, it’s safe to say everyone could use an act of kindness right now. Acts of kindness are as simple as sending an uplifting text message to friends or family, letting someone pass on the road, or treating a coworker to a cup of coffee.
Some people feel an act of kindness doesn’t benefit them, but research shows that couldn’t be further from the case. Kindness is teachable and contagious! It makes the giver and receiver feel good and often leads to a ‘pay it forward’ mentality with further kind acts. The Journal of Happiness Studies surveyed nearly 70,000 people over 18 years, comparing those who volunteered and those who didn’t volunteer. The study found the people who volunteered as happier overall and more satisfied than those who did not. A higher frequency and mental health state were also reported in those who volunteered at least once a month than those who didn’t.
The best part about kindness is it doesn’t need to cost a thing. Radical acts of kindness can be as simple as complimenting a stranger, asking someone if they’re okay, letting someone in line at the grocery go ahead of you if you’re not in a rush. Imagine a world where kind acts were part of everyone’s day-to-day life and how those acts translate when we are kind to ourselves, too.
Many people have a harsh internal critic, and often that critic gets the best of them. Either we work too hard without rest, or we criticize our appearance. Kindness to yourself goes a long way in how you view yourself and how you treat others. Psychology Today cites Kristin Neff, a leading self-compassion researcher, as identifying three major components of self-compassion: self-kindness, feelings of common humanity, and mindfulness.
Some questions you can ask yourself to attribute to kindness are: “what does balance look like to me today?”, “What do I need?” or even treating an internal conversation to yourself like you were talking to a dear friend. A little kindness goes a long way, from taking a day off to road trip nearby or converting your room to an in-home spa with OLAPLEX treatments. Whatever kindness looks like to you, spread it widely to yourself and others.
