Word on Kindness - for the good of our health

Our grateful thanks to Kindness UK for their input to our radio report, which you can hear again further down this page. To connect through to Kindness UK click here.

What kindness can do for your overall health.  Research shows people who give of themselves in a balanced way tend to be healthier and live longer.

A study by the Universities of Exeter and Oxford found that taking part in self-compassion exercises calms the heart rate, switching off the body's threat response. Kindness can decrease blood pressure which is beneficial in reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke - two of our biggest killers and causes of disability.

Taking time to think kind thoughts about yourself and loved ones has psychological benefits - it has been shown to increase self-esteem, empathy and compassion, and improve mood.

Kindness helps modify cortisol, a stress hormone, which directly impacts stress ansd anxiety levels. Acts of kindness can also give our love hormone levels a boost,studies have also linked random acts of kindness to releasing dopamine, a chemical messenger in the brain that can give us a feeling of euphoria.

Being kind to yourself.  When you are consistently kind to yourself, you don't need others to validate your efforts and boost your self-confidence, because you can do those things for yourself.

If you can treat yourself with kindness and understanding, you're more likely to forgive yourself as part of learning and evolving to become your best self. With forgiveness comes motivation to avoid replicating prior mistakes. It's claimed self-compassion is inextricably linked with the concept of cultivating a growth mindset.

"Kindness and kind acts are what make the difference between a 'me society' and a 'we community'”

David Jamilly. Kindness UK.

Listen to this weeks radio report