Look into the health benefits of hugging....and the number of seconds the hug should last for those benefits to take place. Share that with your T....my T believes in it.

____________________

When you think of hugs you generally think of a physical embrace between two or more people. The actual benefits of hugs are generally overlooked. Virgina Satir, an American psychotherapist is well known for saying “You need four hugs a day for survival, eight for maintenance, and twelve for growth.”

But that’s not all. Research carried out by the University of North Carolina has shown that hugs have an amazing array of health benefits, including lowering blood pressure and reducing heart rates, increasing nerve activity and much more.

The study involved 20 couples who were asked to hug while researchers measured their levels of oxyticin. Oxyticin is a ‘bonding’ hormone that is released during childbirth and breastfeeding, and is known to help reduce the risk of heart disease. When the couples hugged for 20 seconds, their oxyticin levels increased, with those loving relationships experiencing the greatest increase. The hug also triggered a decrease in blood pressure and levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, in the women. It is thought that women benefit the most from hugs because of the increase of their comfort levels by promoting feelings of acceptance and compassion