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<v Speaker 1>Hey, good afternoon everybody. It is six twenty six and

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<v Speaker 1>twenty ninth. God, we're moving into July already ready to

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<v Speaker 1>celebrate our two hundred and fiftieth birthday.

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<v Speaker 2>Today we're going to do a feel good research piece.

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<v Speaker 1>That says how kindness can enhance your life and actually

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<v Speaker 1>affect your genes.

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<v Speaker 2>Stay tuned for this one.

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<v Speaker 1>Hi, and welcome to Health Talk with Doctor Lynn. Your

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<v Speaker 1>daily dose. The information you hear on the show is informational.

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<v Speaker 1>It's not meant to diagnose or treat any disease. Any

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<v Speaker 1>kind of complete health conditions must be checked out and

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<v Speaker 1>discussed with your primary care physician. Get ready for the

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<v Speaker 1>good news of the day. God bless you, folks, and

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<v Speaker 1>here is Doctor Lynn and our daily devotional today comes

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<v Speaker 1>to the Book of Psalms, chapter five. As you get

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<v Speaker 1>out of bed this morning, be aware of my presence

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<v Speaker 1>with you. You may not be thinking clearly yet, but I am.

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<v Speaker 1>Your early morning thoughts tend to be anxious ones. As

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<v Speaker 1>you get connected with me, invite me into your thoughts

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<v Speaker 1>by whispering my name. Suddenly your day brightens and feels

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<v Speaker 1>more user friendly. You cannot dread a day that is

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<v Speaker 1>vibrant with my presence. You gain confidence in knowing what

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<v Speaker 1>I am with you that you face nothing alone. Anxiety

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<v Speaker 1>stems from asking the wrong question, if such and such happens,

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<v Speaker 1>can I handle it? The true question is not whether

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<v Speaker 1>you can cope with whatever happens, but whatever. You and

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<v Speaker 1>I together can handle anything that occurs. It is this

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<v Speaker 1>you and I together factor that gives you confidence to

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<v Speaker 1>face the day cheerfully, Hellelujah to that stay tuned seven

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<v Speaker 1>two seven, nine one six four two went five to

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<v Speaker 1>reach me off air. Kindness begins with empathy, which activates

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<v Speaker 1>brain circuits that mere others feelings had foster compassion. In

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen eighty nine, Kent Neurburne decided to take a job

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<v Speaker 1>as a cab driver. What I didn't count on when

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<v Speaker 1>I took the job, but it was also a ministry.

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<v Speaker 1>Because I drove the night shift, my cab became a

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<v Speaker 1>rolling confessional. He's now a newborn now an award winning

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<v Speaker 1>author from Minnesota, wrote a book called Make Me An

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<v Speaker 1>Instrument of Your Piece. I encountered people whose lives amazed

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<v Speaker 1>me and nopled me, made me laugh, and made me weep,

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<v Speaker 1>And none of those lives touched me more than that

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<v Speaker 1>of a woman I picked up on a late, warm

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<v Speaker 1>August night. He arrived at a given address, but no

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<v Speaker 1>one came out, and I thought, well, I better decide.

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<v Speaker 1>Do I go up knock on the door? Just wait here?

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<v Speaker 1>A lot of drivers would just have taken off. He

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<v Speaker 1>decided to go knock. A woman came to the door,

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<v Speaker 1>and she appeared to be in her eighties. The woman asked,

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<v Speaker 1>would you help me carry my suitcase out to the car? Sure,

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<v Speaker 1>he said. That's when the woman told him I'm going

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<v Speaker 1>to a hospice. The doctor said I have to go.

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<v Speaker 1>She got in the cab, sat in the back and asked,

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<v Speaker 1>can we drive through the city. This would be the

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<v Speaker 1>last time I'll see it, and I'd like to pass

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<v Speaker 1>by some of the places that were important in my life.

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<v Speaker 1>She took me by a dance hall and part of

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<v Speaker 1>the city. This is where she said heard her husband

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<v Speaker 1>first met. She took me by the houses where she lived.

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<v Speaker 1>She took me by a hotel where she had been

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<v Speaker 1>an elevator operator. We just drove through the city the

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<v Speaker 1>whole night, and it was getting late and early morning,

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<v Speaker 1>and she said, Okay, I'm tired, let's go now. Nerburn

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<v Speaker 1>drew her to the hospice. She got out of the

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<v Speaker 1>cab and asked how much do I owe you?

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<v Speaker 2>You don't know me anything.

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<v Speaker 1>Nerbourne said, oh, you have to make a living. She said,

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<v Speaker 1>there are other fairs. Don't worry, he replied. Nerbourne helped

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<v Speaker 1>her get her bag out of the car and the

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<v Speaker 1>hospice staff was waiting for her with a wheelchair. She

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<v Speaker 1>then went over and gave Nerberg a big hug and said,

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<v Speaker 1>thank you for doing this. It was one of those

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<v Speaker 1>moments it makes you think, maybe that is why I

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<v Speaker 1>was put on earth to do that for that particular moment,

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<v Speaker 1>to help that woman. On the surface, being kind benefits

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<v Speaker 1>to recipient, but by giving you, the benefactor also gain

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<v Speaker 1>a meaningful and tangible ways. The effects of kindness manifest

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<v Speaker 1>concretely in scientific data, even in your DNA. Kindness is

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<v Speaker 1>part of human nature. Scientists have found that children as

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<v Speaker 1>young as eighteen months can demonstrate clear intentions to help others.

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<v Speaker 1>Acts of kindness usually begin with empathy, as we feel

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<v Speaker 1>compassion for others suffering word klind to free them from it,

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<v Speaker 1>motivating active kindness. In those moments, our brains empathy circuit

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<v Speaker 1>lights up, building on decades of neuroscience research, we know

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<v Speaker 1>that when mere neurons activate, we feel or react in

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<v Speaker 1>ways that reflect.

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<v Speaker 2>Those to whom we are observing.

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<v Speaker 1>Our brains, to a certain extent, experience a degree of

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<v Speaker 1>overlap between the experience of others.

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<v Speaker 2>And of our own.

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<v Speaker 1>However, kindness goes beyond the desire to free people from

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<v Speaker 1>suffering and includes an intention to improve their well being

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<v Speaker 1>without expecting anything in return. When you give, something is

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<v Speaker 1>inadvertently gained that engenders beauty in your own inner world.

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<v Speaker 1>A twenty twenty three study out of Australia, six hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and seventy one participants set off in a two week

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<v Speaker 1>experiment in living well. The participants were randomly assigned into

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<v Speaker 1>four groups. One group was asked to be kind to themselves,

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<v Speaker 1>the second to be more outgoing and sociable, the third

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<v Speaker 1>to engage in activities such as art and music appreciation,

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<v Speaker 1>and the fourth to engage.

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<v Speaker 2>In acts of kindness for others.

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<v Speaker 1>Then, day by day, the researchers checked in about how

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<v Speaker 1>these activities made the participants feel. When it came to

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<v Speaker 1>you to pneumonia, a deep sense of purpose and fulfillment

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<v Speaker 1>helping others trumped.

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<v Speaker 2>All the other activities.

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<v Speaker 1>While self care, socializing, and exploring art evoked positive feelings,

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<v Speaker 1>they couldn't compete with the warm afterglow when others experience

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<v Speaker 1>through the engaging and acts of kindness. Naturally, kindness cultivates happiness.

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<v Speaker 1>In a twenty nineteen study published in a Journal of

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<v Speaker 1>Social Psychology, researchers found that people who performed kind acts

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<v Speaker 1>every day for seven days experienced a significant increase in happiness. Wherever,

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<v Speaker 1>whether people were kind to their family or to strangers,

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<v Speaker 1>the more kind deeds they did or observed, the happier

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<v Speaker 1>they were. Furthermore, kindness affects more than emotions. It influences

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<v Speaker 1>one DNA. Our group of scientists from University of California

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<v Speaker 1>set out to discover whether being kind to others changes

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<v Speaker 1>our bodies at the genetic level. To empirically test their query,

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<v Speaker 1>researchers randomly assigned adults to three groups for four weeks.

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<v Speaker 1>One group performed acts of kindness for specific people, others

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<v Speaker 1>performed acts for themselves, and the last group performed a

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<v Speaker 1>neutral activity as a control. At the beginning and the

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<v Speaker 1>end of the study, the participants gave blood samples. The

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<v Speaker 1>scientists looked for changes in the set of genes linked

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<v Speaker 1>to inflammation and stress. Genes that went over active are

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<v Speaker 1>associated with a higher risk of diseases such as heart problems.

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<v Speaker 2>The findings were fascinating.

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<v Speaker 1>The group that performed kind acts for other people showed

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<v Speaker 1>the greatest healthy change in their gene activity and immune cells.

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<v Speaker 1>The blood samples showed reduced expression of genes tind inflammation

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<v Speaker 1>and stress. Most human behaviors, emotions, and traits are at

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<v Speaker 1>least somewhat socially contagious, said Abigail marsh And neuroscience from

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<v Speaker 1>Georgetown University. Seeing other people do kind deeds triggers the

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<v Speaker 1>witness brain circuits to mirror the kind as, priming them

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<v Speaker 1>to be kinder to themselves without a conscious effort. A

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<v Speaker 1>famous parable tells of how a storm left thousands of

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<v Speaker 1>dying starfish stranded on the beach. A man watched his

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<v Speaker 1>crowds gathered, but did nothing. Then the child began picking

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<v Speaker 1>up the starfish one by one, throwing them back into

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<v Speaker 1>the sea. Some demand said, don't you realize there were

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<v Speaker 1>miles and miles of beaches and hundreds of starfish.

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<v Speaker 2>You can't make a difference.

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<v Speaker 1>The child's smile picked up another starfish, drew into the

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<v Speaker 1>ocean and replied, I made a difference to that one.

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<v Speaker 1>The man was moved he joined in, than one by one,

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<v Speaker 1>the whole crowd joined. As data suggests single acts of

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<v Speaker 1>kindness may spread further than you think. Research by Adam Grant,

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<v Speaker 1>a professor at Wharton School in the University of Pennsylvania,

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<v Speaker 1>corroborates the contagious elements of kindness and what he calls

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<v Speaker 1>upstream reciprocity by controlling experience. Participants who witness someone else

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<v Speaker 1>helping another person were twenty six more likely.

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<v Speaker 2>To help a random stranger later.

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<v Speaker 1>The study, published in the Psychology Science, researchers recruited volunteers

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<v Speaker 1>and randomly assigned them to another eight week mindfulness training

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<v Speaker 1>or a control activity. At the end of the experiment,

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<v Speaker 1>participants believed they were reporting for an unrelated task. In

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<v Speaker 1>a waiting room. There, an actor on crutches passed by.

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<v Speaker 1>The actor, who visibly winced while walking, stopped just as

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<v Speaker 1>she arrived at the chairs. She then looked at her cellphone,

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<v Speaker 1>audibly sighed in discomfort.

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<v Speaker 2>And leaned back against the wall. What happened next was

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<v Speaker 2>quite telling.

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<v Speaker 1>Fifty percent of the mediation trained group quickly gave up

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<v Speaker 1>their chairs. Only fifteen percent of the control group did

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<v Speaker 1>the same. The authors noted that meditation resulted in a

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<v Speaker 1>large effect, increasing the odds of acting to relieve another

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<v Speaker 1>person's pain by more than five times. Follow Up experiments

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<v Speaker 1>confirmed that even shorter meditation interventions for three weeks nurture

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<v Speaker 1>significant empathy. A simple model is to ask will doing

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<v Speaker 1>the good thing mean more to the other person than

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<v Speaker 1>it will inconvenience me? And when that's the case, do

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<v Speaker 1>the right thing. Notice it doesn't come in a pill.

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<v Speaker 1>All right, folks, God bless you, have a great week,

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<v Speaker 1>and I'll see it