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Being kind, bringing human warmth to others is simple; but, oh, so beneficial, important.
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WHAT IS A WARM HUMAN
Definition : Warm Human (n.)
1. Someone who walks through the world with equal measures of strength and kindness.
2. Someone whose presence feels like a hug.
3. Someone who chooses to see the best in people.
4. An imperfect, very human, person trying their best to be a good soul.
You see it, but most of all you feel it when you meet a Warm Human. They have a strength and presence about them, but at the same time, they have a kindness in their eyes or a smile that might come easy. Whatever it is, they seem to evoke an effortless sense of warmth and acceptance that feels like a hug.
Warm Humans have this amazing way of making you feel seen, and better yet...as possibly the best version of yourself. It’s as if your value and worth are so apparent it goes without question in their eyes. Maybe it is the direct eye contact or the way they are simply open, even delighted, to learn who you are and what you are all fired up about in life. …without their own agenda anywhere in sight.
Happy, content, yet perhaps not overly perky. You can tell they dwell more often where positivity lives. A deliberate choice in perspective...choosing to see the best in all people and all things.
Warm Humans embody equal measures of self-confidence and humbleness. It is the type of strength that comes from embracing reality…the imperfections and utter humanness of life, and maybe most importantly, from recognizing their gratitude for the journey. They are most definitely strong, have clear boundaries, and have learned to blame no one else for where they are in life. They radiate grace and self-respect, toward both themselves and everyone else…without exception.
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WARM HUMAN PHILOSOPHY
- Honestly, it all kind of boils down to this: Just be a good human, man.
- Do the right thing when no one is looking.
- Be kind and respectful to all beings. It's not a matter of whether you think someone "deserves" to be treated that way (I believe all beings deserve respect), but regardless, do it because it’s who YOU are, it is how you walk through the world.
- Have compassion. Entertain the compassionate thoughts more than anything else. If you MUST assume, assume people are coming from a good place, and have good intentions. Guessing what people think is like writing fiction - so if you are going to write a story you might as well write something that makes you feel peaceful inside. The good news is that people usually ARE coming from a good place.
- It is possible to be both strong AND kind. We need that. The world needs that.
- Being strong means taking care of yourself and having boundaries. Speak straight to others without tearing them down, and express yourself respectfully. Let go of needing to make the world happy.
- If a person makes a mistake you have 3 choices: 1. Help them resolve it. 2. Help them feel better about it, or 3. Make them laugh about it. That's it. We are human. We don't need to make people feel worse, rub it in or use the opportunity to make a point. That's just being a jerk.
- Warm humans meet people without an agenda of how that person should live their life. All of us are all on the journey we are supposed to be on. It's arrogant to believe you know better than another person about how they should live their life.
- You empower people by believing in them. Trusting that they possess the wisdom to figure things out, find their way, ask for help and make it.
- Kindness isn't a weakness.
- Authentic power isn't about forcing, dominating or controlling (hint! those last 3 things are the costume weakness wears as a disguise).
- Be present with people. When you are in front of someone BE there. See them. Get fascinated.
- Life is finite. There is an end. You get to choose how you want to spend these precious minutes you have on Earth.
- Have a little fun with growth and change. It may be hard sometimes but you don't need to take it so seriously all of the time. As we fumble our way towards ecstasy, it can actually be rather funny. It's okay to laugh at yourself.
- Take care of yourself, be good and gentle and kind to yourself.
- Forgive yourself, and when you know better, do better.
- Let go of toxic shit. Whether that's people, relationships, jobs, thought patterns, negativity, etc.
...and on that note, good people swear; some good people don’t, but a lot of good people do...just sayin’
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A GIRL WITH FLAWS AND A DREAM
These days I am mostly curious about what it means to live as a Warm Human...walking through this world with equal measures of strength and kindness. I believe that being nestled right in between the words strength and kindness is my happy place. I grew up as a “nice girl” which has served me well, but as I’ve matured I realize there is a valuable difference between “nice” and “kind”. Today, I prefer kind. While nice is very pleasing to others, it requires outside validation, AND you can end up doing things that deplete your energy/vibrancy and ignore self-care simply in the name of pleasing others. Not so great. Not so healthy. But KIND is a richer, voluptuous term that has felt more honest to embrace. Kind is about being respectful. Honest, compassionate, and respectful, to both yourself and others. I love that. That feels really good.
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Love, Lisa
From the site WarmHuman
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HUMAN WARMTH
Posted on Jan 3 2020 by Madeline
What does it mean when we say that someone is ‘warm’? To me, a warm person is someone who is friendly and kind. When you are around them, you feel safe and comfortable, like being curled up in a warm blanket. Warm people are open to connection rather than being ‘cold’ or unfriendly.
A few days ago, I was walking along a quiet street, and a solo construction worker was operating some machinery on the footpath. The worker went out of their way to stop what they were doing and pull down their face mask just to say ‘good morning’ before resuming the job. This simple friendly gesture took me by surprise. It left me smiling for the rest of the day.
I often forget to make an effort to smile at people, to be friendly, to show people that I care about them. It’s easy to forget how big of a difference it makes. This can apply to all our interactions, big or small. Some days, I don’t have the energy to be extra friendly to every person I meet. I’m not one of those effortlessly warm humans who seem to exhibit grace and kindness to everyone around them. That’s okay, but when I can manage it, I want to try to be a little bit warmer.
Studies actually show that being kind to others gives you a ‘warm glow ‘, or a rush of endorphins. When you look at it that way, being warmer to others helps you to keep yourself warm.
From the site Adelaide dot edu dot au
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The chemistry and psychology of kindness
By Sophie Kesteven
During childhood, many of us are taught about the importance of kindness.
But are you aware of the different motivations behind kindness and the benefits it can have on yourself?
It’s not uncommon to experience a “feel-good rush” after you’ve been kind to another person, says Dr James Kirby, a lecturer in clinical psychology at The University of Queensland.
“Sometimes people refer to it as the warm glow, and that’s some of the endorphins that are being kicked back into the system, the internal reward system,” he says.
So, is getting a regular rush of these endorphins as simple as just being more kind, more often?
Altruistic vs strategic kindness
A study conducted by psychologists at the University of Sussex in 2018 examined brain scans of more than a thousand participants who were carrying out acts of kindness.
It discovered that people benefit from acts of kindness regardless of whether they are strategically motivated (meaning there is something to be gained from their act of kindness), or altruistic (there is nothing in it for them) — but the “warm glow” effect was at its peak with altruistic acts of kindness.
“We found that there’s a part of the brain that is even more active when we give away [acts of kindness] with no possible benefits for ourselves, so in the altruistic case,” says Jo Cutler, a PhD student who co-authored the study.
“So, this is when that warm glow from kindness will be its strongest, and we saw the brain activity reflecting that.”
The ‘lost letter experiment’
Eager to get a better understanding of kindness, Cyril Grueter, senior lecturer at University of Western Australia, carried out a ‘lost letter experiment’ in Perth.
It involved dropping letters across different neighbourhoods, including low and high socio-economic suburbs, on two separate occasions.
In the first study, published in 2016, his team dropped 300 letters. In the second study conducted more than a year later, 1,200 letters were dispersed in various areas.
To his surprise, on both occasions, 50 per cent of the letters that were dropped were returned.
“If you encounter a letter on the pavement and you pick it up and you post it, then that obviously means you have to go out of your way, you incur a cost — and that’s exactly how we define altruism, incurring a cost to help someone else,” he says.
“So that really tells us that humans have this innate kindness, otherwise they wouldn’t do that.
“And to our surprise, again, we found that letters dropped in high socio-economic areas were more likely to be returned.
“We believe that it may have something to do with the fact that people in low socio-economic areas, they are more preoccupied with meeting their immediate needs. And whereas people in high-end suburbs, they may have slightly different priorities. But we can only speculate on why people in low-end suburbs were less likely to return a letter.”
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Benefits of self-kindness
Altruism is when an individual helps another person at their own expense.
Being kind to other people can have multiple benefits, but it’s also just as important to be kind to yourself, stresses Dr Kirby.
“If I am being kind towards myself, the same regions light up if I’m receiving kindness from another person or giving kindness to another person,” Dr Kirby says.
“That’s why we tell people, when you have a setback or difficulty, what’s the tone of your self-talk like? Do you talk to yourself in an aggressive, matter-of-fact, blunt way, or can you speak to yourself in a friendlier way?
“If you speak to yourself in a friendly way, much like a friend would in terms of trying to be kind and helpful, the same areas of the brain light up.”
As a clinical psychologist, Dr Kirby adds that he works with a lot of people who feel they are unlovable and undeserving of kindness or compassion.
“They are very good at being kind to others but the very idea or thought of being kind to themselves is just completely foreign or a big no-no. They find it very threatening,” he says.
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“When you wake up in the morning, just welcome yourself.”
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Then for 30 seconds or a minute, contemplate:
“If I was to be at my kindest today, what would I do?”
“Just imagine what it would be like to walk around at your kindest. Then start your day.”
Posted 2 Dec 2019, updated 9 Jun 2020
From the site Abc dot net dot au
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Why Warm Weather and Hot Tubs Make Us Happy
Warmth on your skin feels good emotionally.
Posted April 28, 2015
Lying on a sunbaked beach or soaking in a hot tub can lift your mood – but how? There’s good evidence that physical warmth has an antidepressant effect. In fact, researchers are testing whole-body heating chambers as a possible treatment for major depression. You may be able to reap some of the same benefits by simply stepping outside on a warm day.
One of the leading experts in this fledgling field is Christopher Lowry, PhD, Associate Professor of Integrative Physiology and a member of the Center for Neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder. Recently, I had a chance to chat with Dr. Lowry about the connection between feeling physically warm and feeling more upbeat. Here’s what he told me.
How do warm temperatures affect someone’s mood?
Dr. Lowry: Exposure to warm temperature stimuli that aren’t painfully or unpleasantly hot can elevate a person’s mood. This has been observed in clinical settings. And it also happens in the spring, when the onset of warm weather after a cold winter helps account for the mood lift seen in “spring fever.”
The key physiological mechanisms underlying this effect aren’t certain yet. However, we believe that warming of the skin increases electrical signals in sensory neurons. These neurons relay signals to the spinal cord, and neurons in the spinal cord then pass along the signals to the brain.
The result is activation of brain areas that process pleasant stimulation, such as the medial orbitofrontal cortex. Activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex is low in depression, but it’s increased by warm stimulation in a way this is correlated with perceived pleasantness. Simply put, warming the skin makes people feel good emotionally.
Could this be useful in the treatment of depression?
Dr. Lowry: I believe that there are potential benefits to the use of infrared whole-body heating in a clinical setting. This involves heating a person’s body to a warm temperature in a heating chamber. The only part of the body that remains outside the chamber is the person’s head.
Infrared heat waves are ideal for this purpose, because this type of heat radiation doesn’t penetrate deeply into the body. Instead, it heats primarily the skin. Consequently, exposure to heating can be prolonged without elevating a person’s core body temperature, which could be dangerous.
My colleagues and I are currently collaborating with Dr. Charles Raison at the University of Arizona, Tucson, on a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of whole-body heating in patients with major depressive disorder.
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Linda Wasmer Andrews specializes in writing about the mind-body connection.
Holiday Memories Make You Feel Warmer
Choosing a Blanket to Help You Sleep
About the Author
Linda Wasmer Andrews is a health writer with a master's degree in health psychology.
From the site Psychology Today