Loving and Connection Reduces Stress and Anxiety
Last month I invited you to make February the LOVE month for yourself. Did you accept the invitation? If not, you can always start now! Click here if you missed the article.
This month let’s explore how loving and connecting with others helps reduce stress and anxiety, and how it impacts your health.
Oxytocin: Why You Want It
Oxytocin is the hormone of love and bonding. It helps us to feel trust and connection. It helps us to empathize and be caring and generous with others.
Oxytocin is also extremely effective at lowering cortisol (your body’s main stress chemical) and therefore can help lower the effects of stress and anxiety. The more oxytocin, the better able you are to handle life’s stressors.
Other benefits of oxytocin:
• stimulates dopamine (the feel-good hormone) and serotonin, for elevated mood
• balances out your nervous system and builds the parasympathetic nervous system which reduces anxiety
• decreases feelings of loneliness
• increases self-esteem
• reduces depression
• reduces fear and PTSD
• improves digestion
• builds the immune system
• decreases pain and inflammation
Oxytocin quite likely plays a role in why pet owners heal more quickly from illness, why couples live longer than singles, and why support groups work for people with addictions and chronic diseases.
Connect More to Get More Oxytocin
Your amazing body naturally produces oxytocin when you feel loved and connected. Here are some ways to get that feeling:
• hugs
• touch
• massage
• cuddling, even with a stuffed animal
• laughter
• connecting with others
• petting your cat/dog
• showing compassion
• random acts of kindness
• helping others in need
• not only giving, but receiving and letting love in
• accepting help from someone
• relaxation practices that help you feel connected to the world/people/animals around you
When we allow ourselves to connect with others in these ways, both people benefit from a boost of oxytocin!
Hug More to Reduce Stress
We have long known that human touch is calming and triggers the body’s relaxation response. Modern scientific research about oxytocin helps explain what our ancestors knew instinctively.
Hugs are a great way to increase oxytocin and activate the parasympathetic nervous system to reduce stress and anxiety.
Virginia Satir, a famous family therapist said: “We need four hugs a day for survival. We need eight hugs a day for maintenance. We need twelve hugs a day for growth.”
How many hugs a day do you give and get?
The average hug is under 10 seconds long. It doesn’t take long, so be proactive in looking for ways to increase your hugs per day, per week, per month.
Connect More = More Oxytocin = Less Stress and Anxiety