To Have and To Hold

You can’t sleep on human connection. This virus has put us in a very awkward position that we as humankind have not had the misfortune of experiencing before; we have to stay as far away from one another as humanly possible. As a matter of fact, we have been bound to our homes for the past few months to ensure our own safety. 

I feel like some of us have forgotten what it feels like to be touched: the power that lives in a hug, to hold and be held. 

Did you know that when you hug someone, cuddle someone, or hold their hand that it elicits the release of oxytocin, a hormone secreted by the pituitary gland in your brain? Oxytocin is responsible for the comforting and soothing feeling you get when you’re being touched (by someone you want that touch from, of course). You can change your chemistry.

Here are a few ways this is relevant to you:

1.    Oxytocin is linked to blood pressure regulation.

2.    It regulates sleep patterns.

3.    Decrease in appetite—which can equal weight loss. ;) 

4.    Best of all, and my favorite, it reduces the release of cortisol. 

a.    Cortisol is your stress hormone, which is likely activated for prolonged periods of time since everyone has been walking around stressed since the early 2000s. 

b.    That constant exposure to cortisol weakens the immune system, making us vulnerable to this and lots of other dangerous, hating @$$ viruses and bacterial borne sicknesses.

I am unable to engage in hugging my mom these days as an immune compromised elder with diabetes, as I am sure many of you are isolating from your loved ones. I am still working, so I am at risk for being a carrier, but I force hugs on my sister because we need them, and I am a lot less afraid of her outcome, should she contract it from me. 

Hug whoever and whatever you can, whenever you can. We all need it for more reasons than one.