Kindess does your heart good

Kindness might be good for the soul, but research also shows that it’s good for the heart, the immune system and even makes you more attractive to other people!

In his book, Why Kindness is Good for You, Dr. David Hamilton pulls together research study after research study that shows the many myriad of benefits that just being kind can bring. 

He describes how being kind to others produces benefits such as increase in the production of the neurotransmitter oxytocin.  Oxytocin is known as a ‘bonding chemical’ as we also produce it when we touch each other affectionately or stroke our pets, hence its affectionate nickname, the ‘cuddle hormone’!  Kindness also lowers our blood pressure and boosts our immune system, all in all meaning it’s great for our overall mental and physical health and literally does our heart good.

Dr. Hamilton also talks about how research reveals that kindness tends to appear on a lot of people’s checklist of qualities that they find attractive in others. 

The wonderful thing about kindness is that we can all be kind.  We can show the same spectacular levels of kindness as people who happily devote their whole lives to the service of others, we can commit to small, random acts of kindness on a regular basis, but, more importantly, we can show kindness to everyone all the time just by a shift in our thinking.

We show kindness when we choose to believe the best in people and overlook their flaws and mistakes, when we decide to forgive rather than hold grudges, or when we simply decide to focus on what is good about everyone we run into contact with on a daily basis. 

Whether it’s a stranger who went out of their way to help you when you were lost, or whether it was a close friend who was there offering practical support and a shoulder to cry on when the chips were down, we always remember those who have touched our lives with kindness. Kindness is truly profound, and it seems that science has shown it is the gift that always comes back to us.

Loads of love,

Michele x

 Quotes to inspire you

“If you haven’t any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble.”  Bob Hope

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.  If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” Dalai Lama

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”Plato

“A bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives roses.” Chinese Proverb

Hafiz, from The Gift

“Even after all this time

The sun never says to the earth,

“You owe Me.”

Look what happens with

A love like that,

It lights the Whole Sky.