Help Increase Your Teen’s Happiness Today!
Throughout November, we’re focusing on ways to nurture healthy emotions. This applies to your teen, you, and others whose lives you touch. Random acts of kindness take on new meaning when done with intention. Think of the potential happiness your teen will feel at day’s end when they have included moments of kindness.
The very act of extending kindness has a positive effect on your teen’s well-being, including their mood and physical health. Research has shown that kindness can reduce stress and boost the immune system, even as it limits potentially harmful emotions such as anger, anxiety, and depression. That is because kindness is soothing to a person’s limbic system that is associated with emotional responses. Even the act of smiling works!
The Kindness/Happiness Connection
How do random acts of kindness relate to happiness? The short answer is: It’s all about neurochemicals, especially the ‘feel good’ kind. These are products of the still somewhat mysterious limbic system. That’s because scientists are still unraveling its functions.
So far they know it’s made up of six structures that are deep in the brain.
A few you may have heard of are the amygdala, thalamus, and hypothalamus.
These, and their partner structures, are involved with memory and all sorts of emotions.
When your teen does a random act of kindness, neurochemicals are released, resulting in a sense of contentment and well-being.
These same neural circuits are involved in chemical “highs” that are activated by kindness and compassion.
Kindness literally can reduce physically and emotionally induced pain because it releases dopamine, serotonin, and endogenous chemicals into our system.
All of these are the natural chemicals produced by our bodies that promote feelings of happiness, support mood regulation, and help with pain management.
Random acts of kindness also release oxytocin when two or more people have kind interactions. This hormone has a pivotal role in forming social bonds such as trust. This is essential for teens as social connection is one of their primary developmental needs.
Kindness in Action
Let’s talk about how you can help your teen recognize kindness AND behave kindly. Kindness can be simple acts of politeness like saying “thank you” or doing something thoughtful for someone else.
Here are some ideas of how you can help your teen become more aware of kindness in their life:
Describing how people have different ways of showing kindness.
These can include sharing, listening attentively, and giving a compliment.
Kindness is often shown without words, such as a pat on the back, a smile, or a quick thumbs up!
Acknowledging your teen when you see them show acts of kindness
These can be actions with family or friends.
It can include things you’ve seen them do, especially when they didn’t think you’d notice.
Now that you have brought awareness to kindness and the positive effects to your teen’s attention, it’s time to shift focus to practicing your own together.
Ways to help your teen practice kindness:
Kind acts can be gently nudged and are best not forced.
Make a kindness practice as part of your family routine, such as gratitude jar or gratitude daily wrap-up at dinner.
Start small
Random actions to try include eye contact, a smile, a nod of the head, or even a quick verbal exchange that conveys respect.
It can include a simple act like letting a friend use your phone for a quick text, or helping to shovel a neighbor’s walk.
Have your teen come up with others to try. This gives you insight to their view of kindness.
Because practicing acts of kindness is vital to growing positive relationships and an effective mindfulness practice, they’re being integrated within some types of psychotherapy. Here at Mindful Healing we incorporate random acts of kindness within our DBT Mindfulness Module, along with accumulating positive experiences and gratitude skills.
If your teen needs support with managing their emotions and learning how to bring mindfulness into their daily life, please contact us to learn more.
