Ithaca College

Who would have believed that performing "acts of kindness" could actually be healthy for you? Well, it's true! The "high" we feel from helping others is produced by endorphins, which are very real "feel-good" chemicals released in the body. Research shows that the initial "rush" is followed by a longer-lasting period of improved emotional well-being whenever the individual remembers the helping act he or she did.

Performing kind acts can improve stress-related health problems such as high blood pressure, headaches, and depression, and can provide health-promoting social connections, a sense of belonging, and decreased feelings of hostility and isolation.

Helping others is also healthy because it...

• Enhances feelings of joyfulness
• Promotes emotional resilience/vigor
• May improve immune function and healing
• Increases sense of self-worth
• Makes you feel happier and more optimistic
• Reinforces positive morals and values

Here are a few ways you can help others during this season of giving:

• Bring pet or people-food to a local food pantry.
• At places where you get loyalty punch cards, leave your completed card with the cashier to give away to a person of their choosing.
• Do all the dishes in the sink in your apartment or workplace.
• Volunteer to rake an elderly neighbor’s leaves.
• At your next dinner, have everyone share who their hero is.
• Give a hug to someone.. (with permission).
• Compliment someone on his/her internal traits (intelligence, integrity, etc.).
• Call a family members to say ‘Hello’ and see how their days are going.
• Pick up trash you see around campus. 
• Leave a good book in a public place for someone to find.
• Thank the people who serve you food every day.

Have you been thinking of volunteering some of your time to perform acts of kindness? Take advantage of IC's Service Saturday program, or other civic engagement opportunities offered by OSEMA.

Check out this website for other ways to give back at home and in the community. Or, "pay-it-forward" by taking part in this fun game!

For more wellness and health information, check out all that the Center for Health Promotion has to offer by clicking here or come by for a visit and use our SunBox Light Therapy unit to escape Ithaca's clouds and get some sunshine in your day! :)

Submitted by: Maria Behrens '12