志愿者是一系列令人眼花pro乱的非营利组织和社区努力的重要组成部分，从支持当地的家长组织到向家里的老年人提供餐点，再到帮助科学家跟踪鲸鱼的迁徙或破译远处的遥远的星座。
但是，参与进来不仅可以帮助您从附近到地球的每个人：它也可以提高您的健康。这是几种方法volunteering might have a direct impact on how you feel, not just on what you do:
IT LOWERS STRESS LEVELS
As we wrangle over large issues on social media, we can feel like we might win some debate points, but lose a sense of connection to others at the same time. That’s a big problem for your health becausestudies have shownbeing socially connected in a meaningful way provides strong health benefits like reduced stress and a lower incidence of loneliness and disconnect — feelings that tend to be harmful to your sense of wellness.
When you’re volunteering, especially in person, you have common ground because everyone is enthusiastic about whatever projects you’re all taking on, says Mary Ellen Hannibal, author of “Citizen Science,” a book about the importance of volunteering for science-based projects.
汉尼拔说：“当您自愿参加时，您会发现人们在不谈论政治或职位的情况下共同努力。”“您有各个年龄段，所有背景的志愿者，共同努力，例如测量海狸水坝或填充食品储藏室，这就是您的联系点。您从同情心开始，与您在网上“认识”某人时，您可能会从一个有争议的政治问题的相对方面开始。”
IT HELPS YOU LIVE LONGER
There has been充分的证据volunteering provides a big-time boost for older adults, even to the point of increasing their life spans, says researcher Fengyan Tang, PhD, a professor at the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh.
She studies the well-being of older adults as well as their caregivers and notes volunteering not only helps improve overall physical function in seniors — often because they are getting more activity — but also boosts how they see their own health.
“When asked how they rate their health, those who volunteer regularly tend to rate it higher than those who don’t,” she says. “That tends to have an effect on longevity.”
That’s not just for seniors, either. Tang says volunteering can set up a lifetime of positive feelings that improve health outcomes as you age.
IT BOOSTS YOUR HAPPINESS
Volunteering is often a very meaningful experience, because you can feel like you’re helping to change lives or create positive transformation.
When you have meaning, happiness is likely to follow, according to Michelle Gielan, author of “Broadcasting Happiness: The Science of Igniting and Sustaining Positive Change.” That causes a ripple effect that can lead to other great shifts, like睡得更好,吃更健康的饭菜, losing weight,exercising moreand feeling less stressed.
As each of these happiness effects layer on top of each other, and they can create long-term impacts on your health, Gielan says.
“You kind of get hooked on feeling good,” she notes. “As you begin to feel better and better, that grows and you think: How good can this get? And you want to find out. So, you keep adopting these habits that feed into that good feeling, and pretty soon you realize that you’re happy.”
WHERE TO START
There are many volunteer opportunities for a ton of good causes. Where can you find one that gets you the kind of health benefits that make a difference? Start by thinking about causes near and dear to your heart, suggests Hannibal.
That might be帮助减少社区中的饥饿，改善获得清洁水的机会，辅导当地的孩子或帮助动物找到良好的房屋。志愿演出感觉越私人，它就会越有意义。从类似网站开始Idealist.org或只是在您的城市搜索附近的非营利组织。请记住，可能需要时间才能找到合适的合适性，因此，如果一个程序对您不起作用，那就可以了 - 请继续寻找。
“Not every volunteer gig feels right for every volunteer,” says Hannibal. “Take some time, find what works for you, and you’ll know when the right opportunity comes along. And when it does, that’s a win-win for everybody.”
