It's National Hug Day
Happy National Hug Day! To celebrate the day, we thought we’d do a lil research into how hugging can really affect and increase you mood and your mental health. Hugging definitely is a powerful way of healing, and research shows that hugging is an incredibly effective way at healing sickness, disease, loneliness, depression, anxiety and stress. Here’s how a proper good squeeze, where your hearts are pressing together, can benefit you in these ways:
Hugging relaxes muscles. Let's start with the external benefits. On a very basic level, the action of hugging can help loosen tight muscles. The result? A release of tension.
Hugs can instantly boost oxytocin levels, which heal feelings of loneliness, isolation, and anger.
Hugging reduces stress. Turns out, physical closeness translates to emotional intimacy. In a 2015 study involving 404 adults, scientists studied the perceived social effects of hugging — unsurprisingly, those who were hugged more often had a much more optimistic sense of where they fit socially. And as humans, feeling good about our place in the world is integral to a positive sense of being.
Holding a hug for an extended time lifts one's serotonin levels, elevating mood and creating happiness.
Hugging can lessen feelings of isolation, as hugs release oxytocin - a hormone and neurotransmitter which regulates bonding and social interaction. It also increases feelings of empathy and compassion and generosity. It is the foundation for trusting another person.
Hugs strengthen the immune system. The gentle pressure on the sternum and the emotional charge this creates activates the Solar Plexus Chakra. This stimulates the thymus gland, which regulates and balances the body's production of white blood cells, which keep you healthy and disease free.
Hugs reduce anxiety, as they also release dopamine, a neurotransmitter that controls the brain's pleasure and reward centers. People suffering from mood disorders like depression and degenerative disorders like Parkinson's both exhibit noticeably low levels of dopamine production. Hugging can help with that.
Hugging boosts self-esteem. From the time we're born our family's touch shows us that we're loved and special. The associations of self-worth and tactile sensations from our early years are still imbedded in our nervous system as adults. The cuddles we received from our Mom and Dad while growing up remain imprinted at a cellular level, and hugs remind us at a somatic level of that. Hugs, therefore, connect us to our ability to self love.
Hugs balance out the nervous system. The galvanic skin response of someone receiving and giving a hug shows a change in skin conductance. The effect in moisture and electricity in the skin suggests a more balanced state in the nervous system - parasympathetic.
Hugging is a great pain reliever as they release endorphins, which block pain pathways and increase circulation to soft tissues.
Happy hugging,
Number Nine XX