Do all things with Kindness
Be a friend to yourself. If you are a true friend to yourself, you can be a true friend to a loved one. A romantic crush is short-lived, but friendship and loving kindness can last very long and continue to grow.
-Thich Nhat Hahn
I'd like to honour and pay tribute to the late Thich Nhat Hahn who will forever be a respected spiritual teacher of our time. His books, poetry and talks about compassion, kindness and mindfulness practices have guided many to apply these principles to their lives, especially during difficult times.
So here I am taking Thich Nhat Hahn's lead, and sending some kindness to you in the hope that kindness will influence your life today.
Kindness has many known physical and mental benefits that can elevate our overall health. The following is a snippet from the book The Five Side-Effects of Kindness by David R. Hamilton PhD. and I think after reading this you might agree Kindness is something we should all add to our wellness toolkit!
Kindness Makes us Happier
The first benefit that you associate with kindness comes is the positive impact that it has on your mental health. When we do something kind for someone else, we feel good. On a spiritual level, we’re tapping into something deep and profound inside of us that says, ‘This is who I am.’ On a biochemical level, it is believed that the good feeling we get is due to elevated levels of dopamine in the brain and so we get a natural high, often referred to as ‘Helper’s High’.
Kindness is Good for the Heart
Acts of kindness are often accompanied by emotional warmth. Emotional warmth produces the hormone, oxytocin, in the brain and throughout the body. It is known as a ‘cardioprotective’ hormone because it protects the heart (by lowering blood pressure). Through acts of kindness, a higher level of oxytocin is produced, therefore meaning that kindness can be cardioprotective.
Kindness Slows Ageing (I like this one!!)
Oxytocin reduces levels of free radicals and inflammation in the cardiovascular system and so slows ageing at source. There have also been suggestions in the scientific journals of the strong link between compassion and the activity of the vagus nerve which regulates the heart rate and also controls inflammation levels.
Kindness Improves Relationships
This is one of the most obvious points. We all know that we like people who show us kindness. This is because kindness reduces the emotional distance between two people and so we feel more ‘bonded’. It’s something that is so strong in us that it’s actually a genetic thing. We are wired for kindness.
Kindness is Contagious
When we’re kind, we inspire others to be kind and studies show that it actually creates a ripple effect that spreads outwards to our friends’ friends’ friends – to 3-degrees of separation. Just as a pebble creates waves when it is dropped in a pond, so does acts of kindness ripple outwards touching others’ lives and inspiring kindness everywhere the wave goes.
Self care often drops to the bottom of the priority list when things become stressful, overwhelming or fast paced. So please receive this email today as a reminder to gift yourself some kindness. Kindred Self is built upon the foundation of being kind to yourself, with the hope that the kindness you feel will then flood the world!
If you seek encouragement to start being kinder to yourself, then try our range of mood balancing products that are the perfectly packaged on-the-go remedy to encourage a little kindness and self care – simply pause, inhale and reset.
Please take care of yourself, be kind and look out for your neighbours.
