World Kindness Day

The most important social lesson that I imparted to my kids on their first week of starting school is that “it is cool to be kind”. Today on World Kindness Day we wanted to share some of the reasons that kindness is a part of our nature that is waiting to be activated.

It is official. Kindness is actually proven to have positive side effects.

When we are kind to others we release elevated feel good chemicals in the brain such as dopamine which literally make us feel high. In other words when we are kind to others we feel really good! Kindness also produces oxytocin which is a hormone that protects the heart by lowering blood pressure. A study of Tibetan Buddhist’s “Loving Kindness and Compassion” meditation showed that kindness and compassion, reduced inflammation in the body.

We also know that kindness has a domino effect! People become inspired by acts of kindness so much so that it instigates their own desire to be kind to others, in an active way.

Ex scientist – David Hamilton, author of Why Kindness is Good For You, has written extensively about kindness. He cites scientific evidence showing how kindness actually changes the brain, the heart and the immune system. This in turn positively impacts the nervous system and has an effect on our overall happiness.

Setting an intention each day to go out of our way to be especially kind to someone is a sure way to warm your heart centre and bring much more Hi Chi to each day.

Set yourself a goal to do one act of kindness every day for 21 days and you will be sure to feel a big difference in every way!