Practicing Kindness: A Wonderful Way To Take Care Of Your Brain

Even though it’s hard to believe, we are

Practicing kindness in everyday life is not just a way of creating more respectful and sensitive environments.

Any act charged with reciprocity and geared exclusively towards good has an effect on our mental health.

Now we know that many will think that “sowing” goodness does not always help us “reap” respect.

Yet, and although we have experienced more than one betrayal and disappointment, there is something very clear: We live much better if we maintain this harmony between what we feel and what we do.

Although it surprises us, our brains are genetically programmed to do good.

However, on a daily basis, it is jealousy or resentment that carries the most weight in biological trends.

We invite you to dig deeper into this fascinating subject!

Our brains understand that kindness is important

Jerome Kagan is a famous Harvard University professor specializing in the “psychology of kindness”.

• According to him, humanity is genetically programmed to do good. To put it another way, we come into the world with a “program” installed for practicing kindness.

• However, this does not happen every time, and experience shows it to us throughout our history. Why then?

If our brain understands that acting with compassion and respect is necessary… why are there people who fail to understand it and do the opposite?

We will explain it to you in the rest of this article.

Kindness allows us to survive as a species

• Charles Darwin stated, in his time, the same thesis as Professor Jérome Kagan. The human brain is programmed to practice kindness because it thus guarantees the survival of species.

• In addition, acts of kindness allow us to understand that we have many more options for survival if we rely on a support group rather than if we are alone.

• We are empathetic because in this way we succeed in identifying needs and in this way, we facilitate the help and we guarantee the survival of the group.

Why are virtuous acts not abundant?

Genetically, we are programmed to do good. However, our behavior until today has rather prompted us to risk the balance of our planet.

Wars, environmental pollution, social inequalities, obstacles to human rights… Why are we doing this?

• David Keltner is a professor at the University of Berkeley (United States) and director of the Center for the Research of Kindness.

• According to his explanations, the way in which our societies are constructed incites us more to individualism than to group consciousness.

• When we start to think in terms of our own interests, our biological balance then tilts towards envy, anger, violence and competition. Never towards kindness.

• Kindness and the desire to promote good are helpful if we wish to gain more wealth and social recognition. 

Of course, this turns out to be a little hopeless.

Practicing kindness takes care of our brain

Psychological dimensions like resentment, envy or the stress of continuous competition affect our physical and emotional health.

• We have all been carried away by personal excesses at some point in our life.

• Little by little, we became aware that acting or feeling in this way is not good because it takes us away from our essences, from our roots.

We could say that our brains know very well that these biological tendencies towards negative acts prevent us from connecting with others and lead us to hopeless and unpleasant loneliness.

Practicing kindness has a positive effect on our inner balance, and brings us peace and well-being.

• It doesn’t matter that others are not aware of these little acts of kindness that we cultivate every day.

• We know it and this is enough for us because it allows us to be in harmony, knowing what is good. And this inner harmony offers us music that we like and that satisfies us.

• Kindness and compassion ignite brain structures as powerful as the limbic system.

• A compassionate person is more intuitive, more receptive, and more aware of everything around them.

Even if in our contexts, we do not see actions full of respect and genuine kindness, this should not make us limp and even less make us imitate this general carelessness.

Whether you believe it or not, kindness is contagious.

Remember this because it can be the best example for your children, the best role model for friends and relatives.

Small acts go a long way, and if everyone ignited the engines of goodness everyday, we would see great results in the long run.