Today: National HUG Day. If you have no one to hug today, just send love and goodwill to the universe, this way helping to bring a little bit of healing to all so much in need of being *loved*. ****************** When you hug someone, you are offering a form of social support and receiving some in return, and this serves as protection against stress and sickness, according to a recent study. People who reported higher numbers of hugs showed less of a risk of getting sick with a common cold virus. “[B]eing hugged by a trusted person may act as an effective means of conveying support and that increasing the frequency of hugs might be an effective means of reducing the deleterious effects of stress,” Sheldon Cohen, author of the study, said in the press release. “The apparent protective effects of hugs may be attributable to the physical contact itself or to hugging being a behavioral indicator of support and intimacy.” An earlier study, published in 2003, came to a similar conclusion: hugs and hand-holding in couples increased their levels of oxytocin, known as the “love hormone,” which facilitates bonding. Hugs also reduced the harmful effects of stress, and a bit of cuddling or physical contact before a rough day “could carry over and protect you throughout the day,” psychologist Karen Grewen of the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill said. Hugs make cortisol, the stress hormone, drop; and increase the “feel good” hormones, dopamine and serotonin. The same study found, interestingly, that people who lacked in physical contact with other human beings had higher blood pressure and heart rate than people who experienced touch often. medicaldaily/celebrate-national-hug-day-experiencing-health-benefits-warm-embrace-318320
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 06:46:20 +0000
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