December’s Mindfulness Monthly Memo focuses on doing good. 

Doing good and carrying out small acts of kindness can be contagious and have the proven benefit of making us feel better, too! 

Giving also connects us to others, creating stronger communities and helping to build a happier society for everyone. The people we help may be strangers, family, friends, colleagues or neighbors.

Scientific studies show that helping others and doing good boosts happiness1: 

1. Doing Good Builds Community2: Humans are highly social creatures and have evolved as a species living with others. If people are altruistic, they are more likely to be liked and so build social connections and stronger and more supportive social networks, which leads to increased feelings of happiness and well-being. Participating in shared tasks like community service, and other social activities, predicts how satisfied people are.
2. Giving Feels Good: In a study of over 1,700 women volunteers, scientists described the experience of a ‘helpers high’. This was the euphoric feeling, followed by a longer period of calm, experienced by many of the volunteers helping. Studies of the brain now show that when we give money to good causes, the same parts of the brain light up as if we were receiving money ourselves!
3. Giving Does You Good: Giving help has a stronger association with mental health than receiving it. Studies have shown that volunteers have fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety and they feel more hopeful. It can serve to distract us from dwelling on our own problems and be grateful for what we have.

¹ Post, S.G. (2005). Altruism, Happiness, and Health: It’s Good to Be Good. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 12(2), 66-77.

² Legacy Action For Happiness. (n.d.). Why Helping Others Matters.http://legacy.actionforhappiness.org/10-keys-to-happier-living/do-things-for-others/details