We previously worked with a trainer who told us that it is good to hug for a few seconds when we see each other because hugging helps releasing oxytocin in the brain, which contributes to our happiness.
I joked a lot on this subject, not because I was in a rational disagreement but because 20 seconds, the amount of time we were supposed to hold each other in our arms, seemed like an eternity, especially for me and a few more introverted colleagues. Somehow, it seemed enough to see each other, shake hands, kiss on the cheek in passing.
I talk to many people and I see that the need for human contact, beyond the screen, is very noticeable now. Maybe the exercise proposed by our collaborator, at that time, would have been appreciated during this period when we can’t do it anymore. Maybe the social being in each one comes to light, even in the case of those more withdrawn.
A friend told me a few days ago that she is not feeling well, she does not know why, there’s nothing wrong physically, she and her family are fine, calm, without suffering any deficiencies. When I asked her when was the last time she someone hugged her, she stared at me and said that she cannot remember and that I should not ask her this kind of questions, that it is not the case, and that she is a person who does not need such a thing to feel well!
Maybe sometimes we do not realise some of our manifestations, what we need them, what lack. And those things are not expensive, brilliant, but they can be so simple, so close to us, and yet so hard to recognize, accept, integrate.
Think about how it is holding a child (or a dog, a cat, for animal lovers). It is as if all the love in the world is in their hugs. Maybe the child within us still has such needs, from time to time. As the song goes: ’all you need is love!’ … and hugs!