Oct. 5 - Healthy Kindness

Day 277 of a year of kindness

I recently heard a segment on NPR about kindness. One of the experts on the radio was Dr. Kelli Harding, the author of “The Rabbit Effect.”

I bought the book to support the author and learn more about the connection between kindness and health. Today, I took the book on the beach, which is a place that always boosts my health.

She describes that the “rabbit effect,” concluded that the rabbits who were nurtured had better health outcomes than their identical counterparts.

“It wasn’t diet or genetics that made a difference in which rabbits got sick and which stayed healthy; it was kindness,” Harding wrote.

Harding, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City, has been researching the connection between kindness and health.

“Health is right there with us when we hold a baby, call our sister, or hang out with friends bowling,” she wrote. “Health joins us when we sit at a meeting at work, or crack open a book on our couch, or plant tulips in a flower box. It also meets us when we speak out against injustice and look out for a child’s welfare. Or when we lend a hand to the person in front of us. Health is found in glimmers of kindness and the comforts of love, respect, and safety. True health is hidden in the million tiny moments of our everyday lives.”

Science of Kindness: Research reveals that people who engage in generous acts, like volunteering or spending money on others, tend to have lower blood pressure. It also has been shown to strengthen the immune system and improve heart health and longevity. #KindnessCounts #KindnessCounts2025 #kindness