‘Sometimes, a hug is all that we need’ – states the freehugscampaign.org site that narrates the story of Juan Mann, the man who took on the onus of campaigning for free hugs – for everyone. While his story begins with hugs to strangers, triggered by the overwhelming wave of loneliness that overtook him when he returned to his hometown with no place to call home, the idea highlighted in this feature is the importance of fostering the habit of hugging in your life.
Although the action plan promoted through the freehugscampaign.org is to shed inhibitions and give in to the urge to embrace a stranger, as a random act of kindness, it may not be as easy to practice owing to a variety of constraints – personal, cultural, religious and even legal in some places. Even the free hugs campaign initially received flak from authorities and had to face a temporary ban before public fears turned to acceptance. But if everyone gets the drift of the importance of hugging, no stranger would be in want of a hug.
Share an embrace as you would share greetings; let the healing effects of hugs start from your home. As the website states, the campaign became phenomenal in this age of social disconnectivity with little or no personal human contact. It can become all the more phenomenal in your life too. Bring hugs into your life…
To understand how hugs could act as a buffer against damaging effects of interpersonal conflict while boosting better health – both mind and body – and improved relationships, researchers in the United States studied the behaviour and mood patterns of over 400 adults for a fortnight. The research, titled ‘Receiving a hug is associated with the attenuation of negative mood that occurs on days with interpersonal conflict’, required the respondents to provide a summary of their day’s activities, every night – about their conflicts or bad experiences, their interactions, and their moods, etc. The results of the study reaffirmed the hypothesis that an embrace can make a person experience more positive feelings, even when there were issues of conflicts during the day.
Here are some healing truths to get you started on the hug mission.
Experience Security
From little babies to adults, a cuddle can help build a sense of safety, security and reassurance in oneself. It is an act that establishes trust with the other. Studies, in fact, have shown that adults who were cuddled during their childhood showed fewer symptoms of stress. An embrace fulfils the most innate craving for touch, which begins in early infancy, leading on to develop self-love. Hugs shared between members of a family demonstrate love.
Feel Positive
Feeling positive about oneself and the world may have to do with your coping abilities, but a hug can impart such feelings with more ease. Touch can help boost the hormone oxytocin, which can enhance feelings of connectivity and a sense of belongingness while reducing any feelings of loneliness, depression and even anger. And when a loving tight grip is held for an extended time, it can increase serotonin levels, which further elevate moods and even bolster self-esteem.
Live Healthy
A hug can benefit your health in so many ways – it can lower your heart rate, blood pressure and cortisol, the harmful stress hormone. It can also relax the muscles and release tension in the body and also play a role in soothing bodily aches. And studies of the galvanic skin response – of someone receiving and giving a cuddle – have shown that hugs can balance out the nervous system. While there are many ways to embrace, research also shows that a proper deep hug – lasting at least 20 seconds, where the hearts are pressing each other, can have immense benefits.
Learn Values
A hug is a hug only when it is reciprocated and in that lies the biggest lesson of giving and receiving. Shared hugs are about feeling the flow of emotions from one to the other. Some experts even equate an embrace to meditation. An embrace has the power to teach you to be present in the moment; it fosters a connection with your feelings and those of the recipients of your hug. It also encourages you to experience renewed energy.
To repeat an oft-quoted passage from American author and therapist Virginia Satir, ‘We need 4 hugs a day for survival; we need 8 hugs a day for maintenance, and we need 12 hugs a day for growth.’
Can we start with ONE HUG a day at least?