that seems to make people feel happier and report greater health.”
DO GOOD, FEEL GOOD
The Helping – Health – Happiness Connection
by Lisa Marshall G
rowing up on Long Island, New York, young Stephen Post often received an unusual prescrip- tion from his mother when he was feeling grouchy or under the weather. “She’d say, ‘Why don’t you go out and help someone?’” he recalls. “I’d go out and help Mr. Muller rake leaves or help old Bobby Lawrence fix his boat. Then, I’d come back feeling better, and feel- ing better about life.”
Decades later, Post—a professor of preventive medicine at New York’s Stony Brook University—is among a growing contingent of researchers ex- ploring just how such acts of generosity and the feelings (empathy, compassion, altruism) that prompt them may actually improve our mental and physical health. Recent studies have shown that people that volunteer live longer, suf- fer less chronic pain, have bolstered
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immune systems, are more likely to recover from addiction, and experience an in-the-moment sense of calm akin to that which people experience during and after exercise. Scientists have yet to fully understand what the physiological underpinnings are of such health ben- efits, but early studies credit a cascade of neurobiological changes that occur as we reach out to help a loved one, or (in some cases) even cut a check to a stranger in need.
Could generosity be the missing, of- ten overlooked ingredient to a prescrip- tion for better health? Perhaps, says Post, author of The Hidden Gifts of Helping: How the Power of Giving, Compassion and Hope Can Get Us Through Hard Times. “This is a young science, but what we have begun to discover is that there is something going on, physiologi- cally, in this process of helping others
swfl.naturalawakeningsmag.com
Helping Hands Live Longer We’ve all felt it: That blush of inner- warmth we get after we bring a plate of healthful, steaming food to a sick relative, volunteer to read to kids at a local preschool or help sort donations for a shelter.
According to a 2010 survey of 4,500 Americans by United Healthcare, 68 percent of those that volunteered in the previous year reported that doing it made them feel physically healthier; 73 percent noted that it lowered their stress levels. Meanwhile, 29 percent of volun- teers that suffered from a chronic illness claimed that giving of their time helped them to better manage the illness. Other studies, by researchers at Boston College, found that when chronic pain sufferers volunteered to help others with similar conditions, they saw their own pain and depression levels decrease. At least seven studies have shown that people that regularly volunteer or give of themselves live longer—especially if they do it for genuinely altruistic reasons. Cami Walker, 38, of Denver, has experienced firsthand the physical benefits of being generous. After one sleepless night, lying awake and, “feel- ing sorry for myself,” due to a flare-up of her multiple sclerosis, she decided to take the advice of a spiritual teacher that suggested she, “Give something away each day for 29 days.” On day one, she called a sick friend to offer her support. On day two, she dropped $5 in a hat for some street performers. Another day, she treated a friend to a foot massage. By day 14, she recalls, “My body was stronger and I was able to stop walking with my cane. After months of being too sick to work, I was able to go back part-time.” Walker subsequently wrote the
bestselling 29 Gifts: How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life. It has inspired a global giving movement, with participants blogging about their experiences at
29Gifts.org. As she recently explained to The New York Times, “It’s about stepping outside of your own story long enough to make a connection with someone else.”
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