Being kind has a profound impact in the lives of others
but you may not know how much of a positive health benefit it
delivers to you as well. People who perform acts of kindness
would agree that being kind to someone else makes them "feel
good." Scientific research shows that it not only can make you
feel good but being kind has a significant health benefit,
both physically and mentally.
Allan Luks, the former executive director of the Institute
for the Advancement of Health and executive director of Big
Brothers/Big Sisters of New York City studied kindness and
documents his findings in his book, The Healing Power of Doing
Good: The Health and Spiritual Benefits of Helping Others.
Luks' study involved more than 3,000 volunteers of all ages
at more than 20 organizations throughout the country. He sent
a 17-question survey to these volunteers, asking them how they
felt when they did a kind act. A total of 3,296 surveys were
returned to Luks, and after a computerized analysis, he saw a
clear cause-and-effect relationship between helping and good
health. Luks' concluded, "Helping contributes to the
maintenance of good health, and it can diminish the effect of
diseases and disorders both serious and minor, psychological
and physical."
Below are a few of Luk's significant findings as a result
of his research. We hope this research not only excites you
but also encourages you to share the gift of kindness daily!
· Helping others contributes to the maintenance of good
health, and it can diminish the effect of diseases and
disorders serious and minor, psychological and physical.
· A rush of euphoria, followed by a longer period of calm,
after performing a kind act is often referred to as a
"helper's high," involving physical sensations and the release
of the body's natural painkillers, the endorphins. This
initial rush is then followed by a longer-lasting period of
improved emotional well- being.
· Stress-related health problems improve after performing
kind acts. Helping reverses feelings of depression, supplies
social contact, and decreases feelings of hostility and
isolation that can cause stress, overeating, ulcers, etc. A
drop in stress may, for some people, decrease the constriction
within the lungs that leads to asthma attacks.
· Helping can enhance our feelings of joyfulness, emotional
resilience, and vigor, and can reduce the unhealthy sense of
isolation.
· A decrease in both the intensity and the awareness of
physical pain can occur.
· The incidence of attitudes, such as chronic hostility,
that negatively arouse and damage the body is reduced.
· The health benefits and sense of well-being return for
hours or even days whenever the helping act is remembered.
· An increased sense of self-worth, greater happiness, and
optimism, as well as a decrease in feelings of helplessness
and depression, is achieved.
· Once we establish an "affiliative connection" with
someone - a relationship of friendship, love, or some sort of
positive bonding - we feel emotions that can strengthen the
immune system.
· The practice of caring for strangers translates to
immense immune and healing benefits.
· Regular club attendance, volunteering, entertaining, or
faith group attendance is the happiness equivalent of getting
a college degree or more than doubling your income.
Source: Luks, Allan. The Healing Power of Doing Good:
The Health and Spiritual Benefits of Helping Others. New
York: iUniverse.com, 2001. www.actsofkindness.org
