A hug a day keeps the doctor away by relieving stress, building a strong bond, improving empathy and strengthening trust.
Do you remember ‘Jaadu Ki Jhappi’ from the Movie Munna Bhai MBBS? Most of us wondered whether it is possible to spread happiness with a simple hug! Well, the answer is YES. Our expert, Dr Alka Chadha, Counsellor for Mental Health Improvement, Hope and Care Centre, Vashi says, ‘Hugging has numerous health benefits — right from making you happy to lowering your risk of various ailments and keeping you young. However, make sure that you hug for 8-minutes and not less than that because hormones take that much time to get released.’ Here are eight reasons why you should make it a habit to hug your loved ones often.
#1. Relieves muscle pain: Be it spending your whole day sitting at a single place or lack of physical activity, your muscles are under constant stress. But rather than popping a pill to relieve muscle tension, hugging might help. It not only helps the muscles relax but also releases muscle tension, thereby reducing pain and discomfort. Here are 5 reasons why having fun makes you smart and healthy.
#2. Builds a strong bond: All you need is a simple hug to build a strong bond and improve connectivity between you and your loved ones. It can be romantic or non-romantic. Hugging not only calms your mind and body but also releases oxytocin, a hormone also produced during childbirth and responsible for the special bond between a mother and baby.
#3. Decreases blood pressure: Endorphins or happy hormones, along with oxytocin are released in the blood when you hug. These hormones dilate the blood vessels and improve circulation of blood and help in maintaining your blood pressure level. Here are 10 ways hypertension or High BP affects your body.
#4. Lowers inflammation: An increase in the inflammatory markers in the blood might lead to heart disease, diabetes and heart attack. However, hugging is found to lower your risk of inflammation by eliminating toxins from the body. It also neutralises the free radicals, thereby protecting you from its harmful effects.
#5. Relieves stress: Feeling stressed or sad? Hug your loved ones. Yes, because it not only decreases the production of cortisol, the stress hormone, but also increases serotonin, which improves your mood and makes you happy. In this way, it relaxes your nervous system, calms your brain and improves your emotional connect and spreads positivity. Also read about 6 expert tips to stop binge eating or emotional eating (caused due to stress).
#6. Improves empathy level: Did you know a hug has the power to clear differences between any two individuals by improving empathy? Yes, hugging not only sends positive impulses to the brain but also makes you feel light. For example, a teenager and her mother had an argument, but a warm hug has the power to clear away the tiff and get them close (given the fact that someone should initiate it). In this way, it not only creates a positive atmosphere but also helps you to get closer to the person.
#7. Strengthens trust: When you hug someone, it leads to a deeper connection with the person at an emotional level. It also opens the doors for honest communication, which in turn helps you love each other and respect each other’s decisions. Hugging also helps to create a positive environment in your family and spread happiness.
#8. Exerts anti-ageing effect: If none of the above benefits convinced you to hug your loved ones, this might! Hugging not only causes the release of happy hormones and lowers the levels of stress but also prevents you from inflammation. This in turn, helps you to stay healthy and lower your natural ageing process making you feel and look younger than your actual age. Are you following these 10 anti-ageing tips?
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