Kind Mind Gatherings are presented by Todd Fink (host of the Kind Mind podcast and co-founder of The Giving Tree Band) as a way to bring people with open minds and hearts together around a little music, mindfulness and conversation about the meaning of life.

This last gathering of the year will be a VIRTUAL-only meeting via Zoom.

It is open to all Kind Mind patreon members. Join now to access the Zoom details and enjoy bonus content:

https://www.patreon.com/kindmind

This will be an inspirational gathering to support our transition to 2022. Everyone will be welcome to share a blessing or new wisdom in their life from this past year.

Topic: The Art and Science of Giving

'Tis the season of giving, but the societal expectation to give or pressure to spend, spend, spend is not the real spirit of generosity.

As mystic poet Kahlil Gibran wrote,

"It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding; and to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than giving. And is there aught you would withhold? All you have shall some day be given; therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors'."

Sincere generosity is good for our health and according to psychological studies, our happiness is more linked with prosocial behaviors. And the "warm glow" or "helpers high" corresponds to an actual rise in body temperature and release of feel-good hormones like oxytocin and endorphins.

But how, when or what to give is worth considering further. Experiments with "hedonic adaptation" reveal that the happiness we enjoy from the same activity or experience diminishes over time but this is not true when giving in the same manner.

We will explore the ways to give not just materially or commercially once a year but as a healthy habit for our mind and body and to give of ourselves as a spiritual practice.