Volunteering or Aspirin?

Last week I mentioned I would talk a bit about the ‘Helper’s High’ through January, that rush of feel good chemicals produced when we help someone else and show kindness…it’s actually good for us, we wired to give of ourselves.

People who are kind actually live longer, healthier and more satisfying lives. People who volunteer tend to experience less physical pain – Regularly giving help to others protects overall health twice as much as aspirin protects against heart disease and volunteering has a stronger effect on longevity than exercising four times a week, almost as beneficial to our health as giving up smoking!

One article states that around half the participants in one study reported feeling stronger and more energetic after helping others; many also reported feeling calmer and less depressed, with increased feelings of self worth…also that volunteer work substantially reduces symptoms of depression and both helping others and receiving help is associated with lowered anxiety and depression.

Funnily enough, it just so happens that I can recommend an opportunity for you to do good….educating girls and creating income streams for their mums can transform communities …and that feels great!

Love you to get involved.

Follow us on Twitter or ‘like’ us on Facebook and stay connected to all that’s going on. Also you can now sign up to receive our quarterly e-newsletter (on the left hand side of each page on the website), first one coming soon!

Drop us a line and say hi,
Lv Jane

Check out these articles

http://www.webmd.com

http://www.psychologytoday.com/

Related Posts

DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality

DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality

Happy International Women’s Day 2023! This year the UN theme is ‘DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality’.  UN Women says the focus is on ‘innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the

End of year wrap up 2022

We’ve reached December 2022 and what a year it’s been!  There were a range of challenges in our community this year as Fiji continued to feel the impact of COVID. Unemployment remained high as the tourist industry collapsed and this

Climate Change in Fiji

How climate change affects girls’ education in Fiji

Written by Zeerak Ayaz  Pacific nations are at the front line of the most extreme impacts of unprecedented weather changes.   Fiji in particular is highly susceptible to the dangers of climate change and disaster impacts, particularly cyclones, storm surge flooding

Why boys should care about Girls’ education

*Our high school intern wrote this post from his perspective as a 15 year old boy. * For a long time, women and girls have been treated differently to men and boys. Considered inferior to males in many ways, their