It’s World Kindness Day! Why is kindness good for the mind, body, and soul?
World Kindness Day 13 November 2024
World Kindness Day is celebrated on 13th November 2024. This special day began in 1998, organised by the World Kindness Movement, with the goals of inspiring people, spreading kindness and compassion to one another, and helping create a fairer and better world.
The day acts as a global reminder to appreciate the simple, transformative power of kindness in our everyday lives. It highlights the need to encourage acts of kindness, no matter how small, to create a ripple effect of positivity in communities, organisations, and across nations.
Why is Kindness Important?
Being kind has such a positive impact on our well-being, both mentally and physically. Research in psychology and neuroscience shows that kindness is not just powerful for the recipients but also for those who practice it.
We cannot ignore that we live in an often chaotic, self-serving world. Are we becoming more insular and selfish just to survive? It seems ever more pressing that we take the time to value the ‘art of kindness’.
Kindness works wonders to break down social barriers and can easily lift a person’s mood. It’s one of the most wonderful ways we can show someone how much we care about them. Studies show that performing acts of kindness is a powerful tool against the symptoms of depression and anxiety and can promote overall well-being, largely due to how it promotes social connection and our sense of belonging.
Random Acts of Kindness
Happiness Boost – what’s the chemical reaction?
Acts of kindness trigger the release of endorphins - those feel-good chemicals in the brain, including serotonin and dopamine, which work to elevate our mood and reduce physical pain.
Kindness reduces stress by lowering levels of cortisol, the body's stress hormone, so being compassionate and helping others creates a sense of calm and reduces anxiety.
Acts of kindness can release oxytocin, the hormone responsible for love and bonding. Oxytocin dilates the blood vessels, improving heart health and even lowering blood pressure.
People who volunteer or engage in such regular acts of kindness have been shown to have lower mortality rates. The stress-reducing and health-enhancing effects of kindness contribute to a longer, healthier life.
The health benefits of kindness.
The Need to Belong
Helping others can provide a powerful sense of purpose and belonging which is a powerful boost for our self-esteem.
Helping others works to shift the focus away from our personal difficulties, helps us become more emotionally resilient, and helps us move towards a healthier regard for others. When we focus on helping others, we gain perspective on our own challenges and can find our ability to cope with difficult emotions, such as anger or sadness, is vastly improved.
Kindness strengthens social bonds, creating deeper and more meaningful relationships. When we help others, it builds trust, enhances cooperation, and improves social support systems.
Regular acts of kindness in a community or workplace create a more positive, supportive environment where people feel connected and valued, making everyone happier and calmer.
So, kindness can create an incredible positive feedback loop: the more kindness you practice, the better you feel, and the more you want to continue being kind.
Seeking human kindness.
Kindness as a Focus in Hypnotherapy
What can be even more powerful is that kindness to others often encourages us to be kinder to ourselves. Hypnotherapy techniques often focus on promoting self-compassion, which can be crucial for people struggling with a negative inner dialogue, low self-esteem, or past trauma. This internal shift is often life-changing. When we let ourselves off, we find ourselves letting others off too, lightening the heavy load of resentments, anger, and disappointment that can keep us stuck in old, unhelpful narratives.
Also, when we start healing emotional wounds through hypnotherapy, we start to reframe negative experiences, releasing guilt, shame, or anger. Hypnotic ‘wordweaves’ (recordings using hypnotic suggestion, written specifically for each individual client, using their language, their model of the world, and their desired solution state) inspire people to be more forgiving and accepting of themselves, understanding why they behave the way they do and ultimately leading to a more fulfilled sense of self.
So, hypnotherapy can be effective at helping promote feelings of empathy and compassion for others, changing the way we view ourselves and those around us, fostering forgiveness, understanding, and reducing judgement. If we view everyone as ‘fellow strugglers’, we can feel so much more empathy for others, becoming more tolerant and helping us to stop taking things so personally.
Make people feel loved today.
Hurt People Hurt People
Often people resist kindness due to underlying fears, distrust, or past hurts. They can live in ‘protection mode’, keeping others at a distance to keep themselves safe. The effects of this can be very damaging and isolating. Hypnotherapy can help uncover and resolve these unconscious barriers, allowing a person to freely express kindness and love for others, learn to share their vulnerability, and become more outward in their focus.
We can also learn to take more accountability for our actions instead of blaming the world or other people. Over time this victim mentality then shifts to a mindset of incredible power and change...and ultimately change is at the very heart of why hypnotherapy is so powerful.
“Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.”
“Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.” Maya Angelou
“The best portion of a good man’s life is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.” William Wordsworth
Alison Scott Hypnotherapy
If you feel that there is scope to be kinder to yourself or others, cognitive hypnotherapy can help. Call me on 07989 535527 for a free 20-minute consultation.
Alison Scott Hypnotherapy
Join the social media campaign where people are sharing positive messages, stories, and inspiration - #WorldKindnessDay; #BeKind, #makekindnessthenorm. And be sure to consider ways in which you can help make your world a kinder place to live.
A few examples of past celebrations of World Kindness Day:
Kindness UK handed out 10,000 free chocolate bars at London train stations.
The Singapore Kindness Movement gave out 30,000 gerberas
World Kindness Australia conducted an enormous Kindness Hug on Bondi Beach.
Kindness UK encouraged a Text Wave that swept the UK.
Kindness Scotland put on 'Kind Kid Awards'.
Worldwide Freeze Mob Flash Dance organised by Life Vest Inside.
Website www.alisonscottcognitivehypnotherapy.co.uk
Email ali@alisonscotthypnotherapy.co.uk
Twitter Alison Scott @AlisonS39