3 Reasons Why It Is Important To Cultivate Kindness

Kindness positively changes those who practice it and those who receive it. It is an act of love and respect that helps create a more agreeable reality in which hope grows and happiness thrives. Being kind is a way to improve yourself and others.

Cultivating kindness means more than showing sympathy or empathy towards other people, it means sowing tenderness, goodness and compassion, emotions that push us towards others and to do something for them.

Kindness improves the mood

Being kind improves our mood and well-being. A simple act of kindness can change our point of view, breaking through the darkness to turn despair into hope. There are several studies that support this theory.

For example, a study conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford in 2016 showed that being kind to others generates a small but significant improvement in personal well-being.

We humans are social animals and helping others makes us happy. This research has come to the conclusion that we feel real satisfaction in helping people, probably because we genuinely care about others and their well-being.

Another hypothesis of the researchers, which would explain why being kind makes us feel good, is that good deeds are a means by which to make new friends and cultivate social relationships.

What’s more, it seems that being kind makes us happier and vice versa, or being happy makes us kinder. In this sense, a study conducted at Tohoku Gakuin University has shown that happy people intensify, maintain and generalize this state of joy linked to kindness.

Being kind improves health

Kindness has a positive impact on our health, both physical and mental. Being kind unleashes a cascade of vitality thanks to the substances released by the brain that take care of our mood and our body.

Being kind keeps us in good health, reduces the risk of illnesses and ailments of varying intensity, physical and psychological. In this sense, an act of kindness prompts the body to produce endorphins, the body’s natural pain relievers.

On the other hand, stress-related health problems improve as a result of good deeds. Symptoms of depression decrease, social contact improves, hostilities subside and the possibility of isolation is also reduced, which could cause stress, emotional hunger, etc.

Good deeds strengthen the immune system. According to a study, the risk of developing diabetes, cancer and heart disease decreases and the levels of antibodies needed to fight disease improve.

In this regard, remember that kindness protects good heart health. Some experts say that being kind lowers blood pressure, creating so-called emotional heat, which in turn promotes the production of a hormone called oxytocin.

Oxytocin releases a chemical, nitric oxide, which dilates blood vessels. The blood pressure, therefore, decreases, for this reason oxytocin is an excellent cardioprotector.

Kindness fosters loyalty and improves personal relationships

Kindness is a great ally of social relationships at work, but also in personal life. Genuine generosity overcomes hostilities, fosters respect and fosters mutual understanding.

The emotional distance between people is shortened, so we feel closer and closer to others. Ultimately, we are genetically predisposed to this. Our ancestors had to learn to cooperate with each other.

The stronger the emotional ties within groups or communities, the greater the chances of survival. That is why the genes of goodness have been preserved in our genetic code. In this way, when we are kind to someone, we activate that connection that allows us to forge new relationships or strengthen existing ones.

Since kindness positively influences those who practice it and those who receive it, a pleasant environment is created and everyone is willing to resolve conflicts, come to an agreement or share pleasant experiences.

Kindness significantly improves the quality of life

If kindness becomes a habit, especially when we are young, everything improves: we are satisfied with the life we ​​lead, we feel fulfilled and we are physically well. Kindness is contagious, so by being kind, we also improve the lives of others and allow them to improve ours.

Even in difficult times you have to try to be kind to others, but you need to be kind to yourself first of all. A simple gesture is enough to make a difference. We treat others well and others will treat us well. Let’s treat each other well and others will do the same.