Acts of Kindness work both ways

Participating in Random Acts of Kindness Week has benefits for both the giver and the receiver. According to the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, “. . . positive effects of kindness are experienced in the brain of everyone who witnessed the act, improving their mood and making them significantly more likely to ‘pay it forward.’” Kindness spreads to the people that witness it and they are affected by it, also. It can encourage people to spread more love after they see a kind act. In other words, kindness is contagious.

Doing random acts of kindness can give mental, emotional, and physical health benefits. Mental and emotional benefits include things like mood boosters and added contentment, but why is that?

Kindness increases the hormone serotonin in our bodies. Serotonin is the hormone that helps calm us and makes us happy, therefore improving our mood. Additionally, when someone performs an act of kindness, a phenomenon can occur where the giver feels the same feeling that the receiver of the act feels in response. This is called the “helper’s high.”

A physical benefit of doing a random act of kindness is that it makes people live longer. This happens, because kindness decreases many things that can affect someone’s wellness. For example, kindness decreases stress, anxiety, and blood pressure. “When I do something kind, I always feel good after. It makes me feel cool and chill,” said Angelica Moreland.

All around, kindness improves lives and it helps spread love!