Have you hugged your loved one today?
Is all in the hug.
According to Patient.co.in, hugs are important on so many different levels, but most importantly, on a relationship level.
Hugs force you to physically, and therefore, emotionally and spiritually connect. It's a conscious act to stop whatever you are doing and choose to be in the moment with your partner. You are saying, in a literal sense, "You matter to me. I choose you." Not only are you opening yourself up to receive love again, but you are giving love as well - which, when you think about it, is kind of the point of any relationship, right?
The hug will open the lines of communication and release tension in any relationship. I mean, really, have you ever tried to stay mad at your husband after a really long, drawn-out hug? It's virtually impossible not to break down into a smile of some sort. Sometimes, my husband will purposely bear hug me before I'm ready to make-up, which, of course, makes me mad … but I still can't help but laugh.
Hugging also affects us on a cellular level, which a lot of us are aware of, but still, it is amazing when you think about it - that the mere act of being close to the one we love releases "happy chemicals" like serotonin, oxytocin, and even boosts our immune system - it is nothing short of really incredible.
I'm a big fan ot the hug, and not just with the other person in a committed relationship. I've noticed that when friends get together, even if it's people who see each other every day at work who have a dinner together, a hug is a part of the goodbye ritual. I don't know about "at the cellular level," but it always makes me feel better, and I suspect it has the same effect on everybody else.
My boss in Michigan City, who was in his 50s at the time, had a reputation among the ladies as being "a very good hugger." I think they meant that he was always ready with one, not necessarily that he was better at it than anyone else. That's a much better reputation to have than "dirty old man," don't you think?
Anyway, that's my recommended strategy for world peace: more hugging.
