Let’s Get Physical — How Hugs Benefit You
Dancing Elephants Book Project: Health and Wellness. Group #2
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” — Leo F Buscaglia
Love Power
If we learned anything during the pandemic it is about the power of touch.
Perhaps more specifically, we learned what is wroth by the absence thereof.
Human to human, human to pets, we all yearned to reach out and touch someone.
Most of us spent a lot of time “d i s t a n c e d” from physical touch and from each other.
I know how lonely and lost I felt sometimes, especially during the early days when we had no idea what was going on.
I kept envisioning the world according to “The Walking Dead” and I would wake at approximately 02:00 am each night unable to go to sleep, with my mind in a tailspin.
My thoughts would not let me rest.
Later, I was also able to gain perspective by speaking to many people as to how and what they felt about being isolated on account of the social distancing recommendations.
Being of a curious nature, this led me down the path of investigating the power of touch.
There is no shortage of personal reflections and scientific evidence to be found.
The role of Oxytocin
Good ole oxytocin is commonly referred to as the “love drug”. Produced in the hypothalamus, its purpose is to make us feel and give love.
Ever wondered how a sweating wild woman can coo over her newborn — oxytocin. Then goes on to repeat the madness — oxytocin is the one to blame.
Besides the birthing process, our bodies also produce oxytocin when we’re excited by our sexual partner, and when we fall in love. For these reasons it has earned the nicknames, “love hormone” and “cuddle hormone.”
Oxytocin plays a major role in the love and comfort you feel from a hug.
Further, this hormone is implicated in lowering the risks of certain diseases and boosts positive emotions.
What is this need we have for being physical?
Why is touch so important to all living things.
Why does the absence of physical touch impact us so deeply?
During my childhood, there were never any overt displays of affection.
We knew we were loved, though there was never a yardstick to measure emotions by, it was not until I came to the US, that I noticed the way some people were free with their emotions and the ways they expressed love to each other.
In my childhood, there was a marked absence of hugging, kissing, expressive words, and a touch of affection.
I can say with absolute certainty my upbringing has caused me to be accused of being “standoffish” when that is the last thing that I perceive myself to be.
I love people, but I can admit I am not the most expressive person I know.
Though I am becoming better.
What is sad is that after being accused of standoffish behavior time after time, I did an honest precis of myself and realized there was some element of truth there.
I have gotten better, but I really have to love people before I say so or become affectionate with them.
It still does not come that easily to me.
According to science, every living person needs, benefits, and thrives from physical touch.
Without touch, we as a species become a stunted version of our best selves.
Babies cannot thrive without touch, teenagers and young adults do not achieve their full potential, older adults may end up with a myriad of physical and emotional ailments and most of us have witnessed the deprivation of touch in the older adult population.
If you have spent any time with other humans or even animals then you have seen first-hand the way a loving or soothing physical touch can calm and improve our health and well-being.
Holding hands, hugging, cuddling, they’re all good for us. What we find is that when you apply more pressure, moderate pressure, as in a hug or giving a person a back rub, the effects are more positive than providing less pressure.
Heart rate decreases when you’re getting moderate pressure. Heart rate increases when you’re getting light pressure. Same with blood pressure.
When we looked at brain waves, we get an increase in theta waves, which is what typically accompanies relaxation when we do moderate pressure. When we do light pressure, we get an increase in beta waves, which is what we usually see when someone is aroused.
Science has plied us with many convincing arguments on the benefits of physical touch.
We have seen and felt its benefits for ourselves.
Do not despair, for those of us with an aversion to being touched, it appears you can also give yourself the benefits of ‘touch’ if you are single, have no family close, or are a proclaimed loner.
There are many other ways to get the benefit of touch and allow yourself to thrive.
We may also practice self-touch too.
Studies consider yoga a form of self-touch, self-massage, rubbing your limbs against the floor or the ground, and you get very similar effects.
I would guess that if you looked at fast walking, a lot of different exercises, you’ll see very similar effects. When you’re walking, you’re stimulating the pressure sensors in your feet.
Health Benefits of Physical touch
- eases pain
- helps with infant growth
- enhances vital signs
- stabilizes body temp
- can communicate positivity
- helps provide better sleep
- reduces irritability
- increases sociability
- strengthens relationships
- strengthens immune system
- helps with depression
- increases proper digestion
- releases serotonin
- enhances a sense of well-being
- stimulates oxytocin — the cuddle hormone
- slows heart rate — lowers blood pressure
- lowers the stress hormone cortisol
- gives comfort and relieves sadness
- can help us feel happiness & joy
- releases tension & tightness
- helps migraine pain
Conclusion
Most of us loved to be touched.
I speak of appropriate touching and not the act of violating others’ personal spaces.
Appropriate touch evokes feelings of being loved and cared for. Science touts measurable benefits in physiological terms ranging from lowered blood pressure, decreased stress to a healthier immune system.
Physical touch stimulates pressure receptors and vagal activity increases.
The vagus nerve is one of the 12 cranial nerves and has a direct impact on the gastrointestinal system. From our hearts to our vocal cords physical touch soothes the savage beast.
As vagal activity increases, the stress hormone cortisol decreases.
Serotonin referred to as the body’s natural antidepressant, anti-pain, and all-around feel-good hormone also increases.
Substance P a neurotransmitter that influences how we sense pain decreases, influencing the way you process pain. These hormones increase your overall feeling of wellness bringing forth a happier you.
Therefore the act of being physical in a loving or comforting way does impact the biology of both parties by decreasing stress and increasing their feelings of happiness.
So, let the touching and hugging commence.
Share the love, get physical with someone, create a ripple in your corner of the world.
As for me, I remain a work in progress working on being more physical on a regular basis.
I know the power of touch and I continue to employ its use in my life and the lives of those I serve.
I hope that you will reach out and touch someone too.
Go out and get physical…
Remember: health equals wealth!
As always, thank you to the esteemed Editors of the Dancing Elephants Book Project, Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles, Sharing Randomly, and Lady Dr. Gabriella Korosi.
Dancing Elephants Press prompt #1:
Pene Hodge is a mom, a nurse, a writer. She writes because she must. She loves people and is committed to sharing and gleaning knowledge for the betterment of all.