Introduction

Shopping for the holidays can be scary, but studies show that giving gifts has been known to uplift one’s mood and overall well-being. When shopping for the right reasons, you can figure out many ways of giving back to someone besides just shopping for a gift, especially during the holidays. For instance, volunteering, donating to charities, helping at a food bank and more. In this article, Jennifer Moss explains how you can improve your mental and physical health by giving and how you can feel good by giving back to your loved ones or community this holiday season.

Naturally, the holidays tend to make a lot of people happier and excited about spending time with friends and family. For others, its receiving or giving gifts and generous gestures to others, which helps them feel good. Keep reading to learn more about the different ways you can feel good, give back and improve your happiness this upcoming holiday season.

Giving goodwill is at the root of lifelong happiness, Moss writes.

Research shows that giving is so healthy for us. It can lower our blood pressure, decrease stress, and even increase life span.

So why is giving so good for us?

When we give, most of us feel a warm and fuzzy feeling. That's obviously the non-scientific description, but those feelings can be explained in scientific terms.

The Cleveland Clinic, a non-profit academic medical centre, says biologically, giving can create a "warm glow," activating regions in the brain associated with happiness, connection with other people and trust.

There is evidence that when you give, "feel good" chemicals are released in our brains such as serotonin (a mood-mediating chemical), dopamine (a feel-good chemical) and oxytocin (a compassion and bonding chemical).

It also stimulates the reward centre in the brain, releasing endorphins and creating what is known as the "helper's high." And like other highs, this one is addictive, too.

That Holiday Feeling

Dubbed the "Christmas spirit network," a team of scientists from Denmark found in a 2015 study that our brains light up when we see images associated with the holidays. Some experts believe that because giving is associated with the holidays, it plays a role in our heightened feel-good state during this time of the year. 

Of course, giving gifts can make us feel genuinely happy. That moment when you see someone's eyes light up from the perfect gift can be truly wonderful.

But the act of giving isn't all about giving gifts. And if giving gifts means we're overspending, then it have the opposite impact on our mental health. 

According to the Deloitte Canada 2021 Holiday Retail Outlook, Canadians are expected to spend an estimated $1,841 on the holidays — way above 2020 spending and even more than pre-pandemic levels. Again, giving gifts can make us feel good too, but there are other, more meaningful ways to give this season. 

Here are a few:

Give Social Support

Social support is a fundamental way to give during the holiday season and all year round. Researchers have delineated four distinct types of social support that we can offer:

• Emotional support can be offered just by listening and empathizing. Not everyone is happy around the holidays, especially if they are lonely, grieving or financially strained. Actively listening is a helpful way to offer social support.

• Esteem support is demonstrated by showing expressions of confidence or encouragement. Start right now by celebrating someone on social media or telling your friend how awesome they are in a text or email. Encourage someone who needs it.

• Informational support can be delivered by being a place of knowledge for people seeking advice, or developing allyship with parts of our community where this a lack of safe places to talk.

• Offer tangible support, which means taking on a responsibility for someone as a way to give them more emotional bandwidth.

Give The Gift Of Time

In addition to offering social support, donate your time. Research published in the book The Paradox of Generosity by Christian Smith and Hilary Davidson found that people who volunteer an average of 5.8 hours per month describe themselves as "very happy," while those who volunteer 0.6 hours report feeling unhappy. Remember, volunteering can be structured, like organized fundraising or serving food at a homeless shelter. Volunteering also means visiting an elderly neighbour, running an errand for a friend, shovelling someone's driveway or walking a friend's dog. Volunteering is simpler than most people realize. It's just about helping others. 

Donate Money

That same study found that people who donate more than 10 percent of their incomes have lower depression rates than those who don't.

In another study, $10 Starbucks cards were handed out. The people who gave their card away experienced the highest happiness levels.

All of these studies simply reinforce that it all boils down to kindness. Giving goodwill is at the root of lifelong happiness.

Cliché or not, it's the truth. The more you give, the more you receive. So give kindness this holiday season and throughout the rest of the year. It's the gift that keeps on giving. 

Conclusion

Many believe that happiness comes from providing generous gestures and doing things for others out of the kindness of their heart, especially during the holiday season. But for some people, the holidays can get intimidating, especially when most of the time it revolves around buying gifts. However, in order to escape that mindset of constantly feeling overwhelmed during the holidays, try changing your mindset to feel good and genuinely happy about giving to others, as there are numerous possible ways for you to give back without overspending.