You thought cuddling is only a way to express your affection to your Boo (or you know, whomever) but did you know that cuddling has tons of benefits according to science?
Well, read on to find out the amazing benefits of snuggling and cuddling!
1). Cuddling releases Oxytocin aka “the love hormone”
Oxytocin has been long attributed as the female reproductive hormone as it aids in child birth and breast feeding. But a lot of scientific research has gone into uncovering the all encompassing benefits of “Oxytocin” which go way beyond aiding in reproduction.
Oxytocin is also known as the “love hormone” because it is released mostly during hugging and love making. It is the ultimate bonding and feels good hormone. The more Oxytocin levels in your body mean the more connected, safe and happier you feel. In fact, experts recommend that you should get a minimum of 8 hugs per day for your optimal well being.
There are many ways to naturally activate Oxytocin in your body: from engaging in community building or social interactions but what better way to increase it than by snuggling in the arms of your partner.
It will not only make you feel happier but will also deepen your love.
So ladies, if you have not incorporated cuddling in your daily routine, it’s time you got started!
2). Cuddling deepens intimacy and emotional bonding
Human touch is very healing and reassuring, more so when it comes from our loved ones.
“Hugging is the most beautiful form of communication that allows the other person to know beyond a doubt that they matter.” – Unknown
When you can just lie down comfortably in the arms of your partner, gazing smilingly into their eyes, that’s a whole new level of intimacy and communication.
It is very important to squeeze in these moments of intimacy in our daily lives to express love and affection to our partners.
3) Cuddling takes away your blues
Do you remember, when you were a kid, you used to run to your mother after getting a bruise and she would just cuddle you and the pain would seem to go away.
Well, it was Oxytocin at play.
Hugging relaxes your muscles and releases any tension in the body. The Oxytocin releases actually work as a blocking agent for any pain signals in your body.
So, next time you feel that your partner is upset about something, just go and give them a tight hug and watch their blues go away.
4) Cuddling boosts immunity
In addition to “Oxytocin”, cuddling also releases the happy hormones like “Serotonin”, these two hormones work together to boost your immune system.
The power of feeling happy and loved actually boosts your immune system and protects you against infections.
Read 10 Reasons You Should Cuddle More, According to Science
5) Cuddling lowers your heart rate and blood pressure
Stress affects the whole body badly but the organ that it affects the most is – your heart.
Hugging activates the Parasympathetic nervous system and acts as a natural anti-anxiety medicine.
It lowers your stress levels and reduces your heart rate and blood pressure.
In fact one study from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill researchers found out that people who hugged and held hands while watching a 10minute video had lower blood pressure and heart rate compared to those who didn’t hold hands or hugged.
Imagine if this is what hugging for 10 minutes can do, what it can do if you include this miracle drug in your daily life ?
6) Cuddling helps you sleep like a baby
Hugging is the magic ingredient that can make you sleep like a baby.
The oxytocin and other feel-good hormones that it releases have a calming effect on your mind and body.
When you hug someone you love, it makes you forget all your anxieties. It makes you feel safe and comforted.
You can just squeeze in ten minutes of cuddling with your partner before you hit the bed and see the miracles.
Read What Your Sleeping Position With Your Partner Says About Your Relationship
7) Cuddling reduces cravings
It is scientifically proven that Cuddling helps you to your reduce cravings. Be it smoking or any other addiction that you are trying to get rid of. Try cuddling more with your partner every day.
The feeling of warmth and intimacy that you will share with your partner along with the feel good effect of happy hormones in your body will make you forget about your cravings and addictions.
8) Cuddling makes you feel safe and expands your ability to trust
Our brain is wired for survival and protection. Trusting everyone won’t be good for our survival. Therefore, we have an inbuilt mechanism in our body that turns good feelings and bad feelings on and off and registers all experiences that happen to us to protect us in the future.
Whenever we feel safe and loved and go through a good experience, oxytocin is released in our body. It activates a certain neural pathway in our brain that increases our capacity to trust in similar circumstances in the future.
And whenever our trust is betrayed or we go through a bad experience, Cortisol is released in our body. It creates neural pathways in our brain to feel threatened in similar circumstances in the future.
If we have had few bad experiences with intimacy and our trust has been betrayed, we can’t go back and erase the old neural pathways but we can create new ones by engaging in more Oxytocin inducing experiences.
Cuddling helps us to create new oxytocin experiences and build new neural pathways to increases our sense of trust and safety.
9) Cuddling enhances your lovemaking experience
Cuddling, holding hands and snuggling up with your partner increases hormones like oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin. They not only make you feel safe and happy but also increase the love making desire.
That’s right – Cuddling can enhance your lovemaking experience.
Is there any reason, not to include it in your daily routine? ?
10) Cuddling boosts self-esteem
Our self-esteem is formed mostly in our childhood. The quality of time and love that our parents have become the basis of how we learn to view ourselves throughout our lives.
When we used to get hugs from our parents during childhood, we felt love at the cellular level and it ingrained in us a deep sense of self-love and self-worth.
So now, whenever we get a hug from someone, it activates our cellular memory of self-worth and self-love and boosts our self-esteem.
11) Hugs are also like meditation
Hugs connect you to the flow of life energy in your body by making you feel the warmth and sensations in your body. It gets you out of the circular thinking pattern of worries and brings you back to the present moment. It makes you let go of all your worries and brings the smile on your face.
No wonder, lots of culture practice hugging as a form of meditation.
So, what are you waiting for, start including hugging as a part of your daily routine and watch your well-being soar?
Read 9 Different Types of Hugs And What Each Reveals About Your Relationship
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