Hug Help – The Key to Happiness!

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One of my earliest memories is of me falling down as a child, and getting

Hugs for Happiness

scooped up and hugged better. Even as adults, we still crave that amazing feeling of being held closely, made to feel safe and loved, and cared about unconditionally.

Hugs are one of the best ways for two people to show to each other that they are liked and appreciated. A recent clinical study suggests that touch reduces stress and anxiety: when a subject touched the hand of a loved one, centre’s of the brain concerned with fear and danger became less active.

At the Touch Research Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine, over 100 studies have shown the positive effects of touch on medical conditions. Their studies indicate the benefits of touch to include:

• Weight gain in preterm infants
• Increased attentiveness in children
• Reduced pain
• Reduced stress hormones
• Improved immune function.

In fact, some researchers suggest that, as a result of its effect on the immune system, wound-healing and resistance to infection is improved by touch. All this from flinging your arms around someone – how great is that?

Hugging also causes the release of a hormone called oxytocin, which Swedish researchers have show is associated with reduced levels of stress hormones, promotion of growth and healing and social bonding. It is a natural thing to do among people we care about. Think about the animal kingdom – animals with arms hug automatically, with parents carrying their young in their arms, and comforting offspring who are feeling scared or insecure. Just like other animals, we humans need that same level of reassurance sometimes to set us on our way.

Hugging is great, because you don’t have to know someone really well to give them a hug. We hug to say thank you, hello, good bye, and I love you. We hug to let people know things are going to OK, or that we are thinking of them. Sometimes we just hug because we can and it makes us happy!

Anyone who can think back to their childhood can probably remember a time when a hug really helped to boost their happiness within. Parents who hug children regularly support their self-esteem, letting them know that they are valued and cared about. In the same way, kids who grow up without this physical closeness can find it difficult to deal with relationships in later life, and may be at risk of suffering from emotional unhappiness and poor self-image.

Just like water, air and food, humans need hugs and touch to thrive. Without it, we feel lost and lonely, and a big hug can have limitless benefits in bring on happiness when it’s delivered up by someone close to us, who wants to show that they care.

So – make time for a hug with someone special and you might just be improving the quality of your health, your happiness, there happiness and your overall wellbeing, today!

How many hugs to you give out in a day?

Debbie