Family Matters

Posts Tagged ‘free hugs’

In 1991, Allan Luks (former executive director of The Institute for the Advancement of Health and executive director of the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program in New York City) documented a study about kindness in a book called “The healing power of doing good: The health and spiritual benefits of helping others”.

In a survey he conducted among 3,000 people of all ages from 20 organizations around the USA, he found clearly that “Helping contributes to the maintenance of good health and it can diminish the effect of diseases and disorders both serious and minor, psychological and physical”. So there you have it – if you want to be happy and healthy, help others!

In his research, Luks found that helping others and being kind resulted in a sharp reduction of stress and increased the release of endorphins (the body’s natural feel-good drugs). Over 90% of participants in his research reported that regular volunteering lowered their stress level and contributed to their health and wellbeing.

The 19th of October (my birthday, how exciting) has been declared “Global Hugs Day”. Free huggers will be going out to streets around the world from 11am to 1pm local time, offering free hugs to all and spreading human warmth.

Just before the holidays and the start of a new year, we went to Southbank Parklands in Brisbane to spread some real holiday cheer with free hugs and some good friends. Some truly touching stories were told to us, like a grandmother, whose grandson had been in an accident in the country and had been [...]

Sometimes, the appreciation of what we have in life is the only thing we need in order to paint our life in bright colours. It is as if the greatest way to overcome stress and distress or to stop taking life for granted is to look at our life and notice all the good stuff.

As part of the Be Happy in LIFE mission, we dedicate much of our time to learn and teach happiness and, let me tell you, some of the lessons are amazing and strong, much like the one I want to share with you here.

For a while, I’ve been thinking of ways to motivate my readers to live an inspiring life that will make a difference. Many people think that the way we can make a difference is by doing big things and I think we need to re-define the meaning of “big”. I think we can make a difference, a big difference, by changing the depression statistics in the world. One person at a time, we can teach how to put happiness in our hearts and chase away the darkness. And you are probably asking yourself, “And how do we do that with no budget, without the support of the government and without organizing ourselves in a formal way?”

Ronit Baras is widely recognized as the Parenting Guru and Happiness Coach, attracting parents from all around the world to her websites, Family Matters, The Motivational Speaker and Be Happy in LIFE. She has written about 500 articles on family matters, parenting advice, relationships, personal development, kids, happiness and self esteem. Ronit is an extraordinary [...]