The science of kindness:
 
Did you know that engaging in acts of altruism and kindness can increase the production of the chemicals oxytocin and serotonin in your body? This increase can lead to greater self-esteem and feelings of optimism and happiness. It can also reduce levels of stress, anxiety, and depression.  In other words, the kinder you are to others, the happier you feel!
Harmony Moon is holding our annual Kindness Festival on Saturday, Feb. 18. Please join us for refreshments and prize drawings.  You can also make Kindness Prayer Flags and cuddle with kittens in our Kitty Petting Zoo, hosted by Staunton-based cat rescue group, Humanitarians of Pet Education (HOPE).  10% of all purchases made at Harmony Moon during our Kindness Celebration will be donated to HOPE.
In the meantime, do something nice!  Here are some suggestions:

• smile at everyone you see
• say "thank you" to someone who did something nice for you
• compliment a stranger
• pick up trash in your neighborhood
• volunteer to read to a patient at a local nursing home

And for more information on the science of kindness, check out these resources:

The Science of Kindness (Life Vest Inside)

The Science of Kindness (Random Acts of Kindness Foundation)

Thanks for a Great RAK Week!

Thanks to everyone who came to our Kindness Festival on Saturday, February 8, and to everyone who participated in Random Acts of Kindness Week. Our festival featured "Pickles," the one-eyed pirate kitty from Cat's Cradle. Kids also had fun making Kindness Clocks with Miss Marcia.

For Random Acts of Kindness Week, we teamed with Mary Baldwin College to perform Random Acts of Kindness throughout downtown Staunton. Anonymous acts of kindness were springing up all over! It was a lot of fun and a huge success.

You can check out all the fun activities and acts of kindness on our RAK Week Pinterest board.

Celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week, Feb. 14 -20!

"How beautiful a day can be when kindness touches it!"

-George Elliston; news reporter, poet

A simple act of kindness can:

• bring two people together in spontaneous goodwill
• create a smile that can go 'round the world
• increase someone else's happiness as well as your own
• ignite a small flame of positive thinking

Celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week from Feb. 14 - 20! We'll be celebrating all week at Mindful Hands and will host a Kindness Fair on Saturday, Feb. 20. You can also follow us on Follow us on twitter (twitter.com/mindfulhands) as we post suggestions for random acts of kindness, inspirational messages, and updates on acts of kindness happening around the world.

If you're really feeling brave, you can take the Extreme Kindness Challenge from the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation. Commit to doing at least one act of kindness for each day of Random Acts of Kindness Week and share your experience via Facebook, Twitter or the Random Acts of Kindness website.

To get you started, here's a few simple acts of kindness:

• smile at everyone you see
• say "thank you" to someone who did something nice for you
• compliment a stranger
• pick up trash in your neighborhood
• hold the door open for someone

Participate in random acts of kindness! We may not be able to change the whole world, but we can certainly change our little corner of it.

Random Acts of Kindness in the Snow

As Washington digs out from one of our harshest snowstorms on record, we are emerging from our white cocoons to hear of almost the entire metro region paralyzed and shut down, more than a hundred thousand homes without power, major highways and roadways impassable because of icy conditions, accidents, and downed trees and power lines. Oh, and, another near-blizzard on the way!

And in the midst of all the chaos, there is kindness. Neighbors checking on neighbors, bringing food and medicine to those who cannot get out, sharing their homes with those without power, coming together to help shovel out cars, driveways, homes, and sidewalks. Neighborhood families coming out into the streets, backyards, and parks to sled and play in the snow together.

It may take a village to raise a child, but it may take a snowstorm to make a village.

Random Acts of Kindness

"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted."
(Aesop, The Lion and the Mouse)

We've all certainly experienced an act of kindness - a memorable event when someone, perhaps even a complete stranger, came to our aid when we least expected it: a flat tire changed, a casserole baked, a helping hand with a heavy load. When we are at the receiving end of an act of kindness, no matter how small, we experience lowered stress levels and a lift in our spirits.

Apparently, so does the giver of the good deed. In recent years, there has been a host of research studies that indicate that doing good can indeed be good for you. "Helper's high," the rush of adrenaline that altruistic people can sometimes feel after doing a good deed for someone else, has been linked to lowered stress levels, improved immunity from illness, and longer life, in addition to a general sense of calm and positive well-being. And these feelings lead to the desire to do more good deeds, thus lifting your own spirits as well as those of whom you help.

According to Stephen G. Post, PhD, a professor of bioethics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and a prominent researcher in the study of the biological effects of altruism, "All the great spiritual traditions and the field of positive psychology are emphatic on this point -- that the best way to get rid of bitterness, anger, rage, jealousy is to do unto others in a positive way" (WebMD).

And so, as counter-intuitive as it may seem, if you're feeling anxious, stressed, or depressed (and who isn't in today's economy?), the best way to help yourself is by helping others.

Source:
The Science of Good Deeds, WebMD, www.webmd.com

For more information:
The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, www.actsofkindness.org
SmileCard Project, www.helpothers.org