The holiday season is in full swing and there is no better time than now to become a little more generous. Whether it is giving a gift to a loved one, sparing time for a friend in need, or donating to charity, the act of giving can have profound impacts on the people in your community. While these impacts are often enough reason for us to give back when we can, there is an added bonus to these acts of kindness - they come with many health benefits.
But what exactly are these health benefits? Let’s take a look.
The Health Benefits of Giving
Generosity and kindness do so much more than just make you feel good about yourself. They can actually have profound positive effects on all aspects of your health and wellbeing. For some perspective on what you have to look forward to, let’s talk about some of the mental, and physical benefits of giving.
Mental Benefits
There is no doubt that giving, whether in the form of volunteering or financial donations, makes us feel good, but it can also do a lot more for our mental health.
For starters, it can give your mood a boost. Generosity and acts of kindness have been linked to improved moods by promoting the release of feel-good hormones like serotonin and dopamine. This is partially because partaking in charity work, particularly volunteering, often brings people together to promote social interaction and decrease isolation.
What’s more, taking the time to give back can also reduce stress. You already know that life can be stressful, and we all have different ways of dealing with that stress. Some of us exercise, some of us clean, some of us craft, and so on. However, you may not realize that giving back is a great way to reduce stress. In fact, generosity and acts of kindness have been found to lower the levels of stress hormones in your body. These hormones include cortisol, which in extremely high levels, is known to cause a multitude of health concerns.
Last, but certainly not least, when it comes to mental health, taking the time to give can also be beneficial by expanding your perspective of the world. We all have our own perspectives on how the world works, and these perspectives are built based on our life experiences. Taking the time to volunteer with an organization that gives back to your community can broaden your horizons and give you a whole new perspective. This can come in the form of helping you be grateful for what you have or introducing you to new people and cultures that you wouldn’t have previously interacted with.
Physical Benefits
Many of the physical benefits of giving stem from the mental health benefits we’ve already discussed. For example, a reduction in stress hormones can help you avoid certain stress-related health conditions. But that’s not where the physical benefits stop.
Doing charity work that involves volunteering has the added benefit of often involving movement. Whether you are working in a soup kitchen, volunteering at a charity run, or participating in a beach cleanup day, the act of giving back through volunteer work gets you off the couch and moving your body, which we all know can do wonders for your physical health.
As if that’s not enough, taking time to take care of others may actually lead to you living a longer life. That’s right! Research has shown that there is a relationship between generosity and living longer, which is likely caused by the various other mental and physical benefits of giving.
The Giving Culture at New Earth
The act of giving is powerful for everyone involved. Here at New Earth, we not only understand that, but we embrace it. Our company was founded on three key pillars: Live, Give, and Grow. Our company is built around Give, the central pillar. It is truly at the heart of all we do.
Over the years, we have continued to find ways to give back to the communities we operate in. From planting trees to organizing community clean-ups, we are always sure to do our part to make this world a little better than we found it.
And we don’t stop there. We have built the opportunity to Give right into our business by allowing and encouraging customers to donate each time they place an order. New Earth customers always have the option to contribute a monetary or product donation to one of our many chosen non-profit organizations, which makes it easier than ever for you to Give.
Harness the Power of Giving
With so many benefits for your community, as well as your health and wellbeing, we consider giving back part of living the #NewEarthLife. Whether you choose to volunteer at your local soup kitchen, be a mentor for a local youth program, give a monthly donation to your favorite charity, or contribute a few dollars with your next New Earth order, we hope you join us in finding ways to harness the power of giving and help make this world a little better than you found it.