Nah just kidding, but it is good for your heart! Acts of kindness are often accompanied by emotional warmth. Emotional warmth produces the hormone, oxytocin, in the brain and throughout the body. It plays a significant role in the cardiovascular system

Oxytocin causes the release of a chemical called nitric oxide in blood vessels, which dilates (expands) the blood vessels. This reduces blood pressure and therefore oxytocin is known as a ‘cardioprotective’ hormone because it protects the heart (by lowering blood pressure). The key is that acts of kindness can produce oxytocin and therefore kindness is said to be cardioprotective.

Kindness slows aging by reducing free radicals and inflammation—two major aging and heart disease factors—through the release of oxytocin during warm emotional interactions. Research also links kindness to lower inflammation via the vagus nerve, which controls heart rate and inflammation. Studies, including one on Tibetan Buddhist meditation, suggest that sustained kindness and compassion could significantly reduce bodily inflammation.

We all know that we like people who show us kindness. This is because kindness reduces the emotional distance between two people and so we feel more ‘bonded’. It’s something that is so strong in us that it’s actually a genetic thing. We are wired for kindness. Our evolutionary ancestors had to learn to cooperate with one another. The stronger the emotional bonds within groups, the greater were the chances of survival and so ‘kindness genes’ were etched into the human genome. So today when we are kind to each other we feel a connection and new relationships are forged, or existing ones strengthened.

Kindness is like a contagious disease only better! When we’re kind we inspire others to be kind and studies show that it actually creates a ripple effect that spreads outwards to our friends’ friends’ friends – to 3-degrees of separation. Just as a pebble creates waves when it is dropped in a pond, so acts of kindness ripple outwards touching others’ lives and inspiring kindness everywhere the wave goes.