Holding hands with someone you love is a different experience altogether. It makes you feel loved, warm, safe, secure and happy. But there are tons of other benefits of holding hands with the person you love.
Holding hands is one of the most basic non-verbal signs of love. While holding hands with our crush, date or romantic partner makes us feel all giddy and fuzzy inside, holding hands with our friends, siblings, or even parents can make us feel more connected, valued and cared for.
Although holding hands is a learned behavior, it is also something very instinctive as we have naturally helped the hands of our loved ones since our childhood. While it may seem like an unimportant, common gesture, it can have some and amazingly positive effects.
Related: How You Hold Hands With Your Partner Reveals a Lot About Your Relationship
10 Benefits of holding hands with a loved one
Here are some of the most surprising benefits of holding hands with someone you love –
1. Relieves pain
Have you ever seen how an expectant mother holds her partner’s hands during labor? This is an instinctive reflex as holding hands of someone we love empowers us to endure pain. Empathetic physical touch, such as hand holding can help us manage our emotional reaction to pain. One of the benefits of holding hands is that it makes us feel secure and makes us believe that we can make it through this painful experience.
Researchers have found hand holding to be “a very effective coping strategy” in relieving pain. Scientists have discovered that most adolescents experiencing treatment-related pain prefer to hold the hand of their mother. Hand holding helps to reduce tension and acts as a “source of distraction, and as a source of security.”
2. Boosts the “love” hormone
Holding hands with a loved one helps to release oxytocin, popularly known as the love hormone. While the hormone is primarily associated with sexual orgasm, holding hands with your partner can release oxytocin in smaller amounts. It makes us feel happier, loved, connected and close to the person we are holding hands with. Research shows that oxytocin release can also help to improve emotional behavior, social bonding and overall well-being.
Related: 5 Things To Show Your Woman You Really Do Love Her
But that’s not all! There are many other benefits of holding hands with someone you love.
3. Improves love and connection
Ever wondered why young couples hold hands all the time and why they can’t keep their hands off each other? As our hands consist of numerous nerve endings, holding our partner’s hand stimulates the nerves in our brain. As it releases oxytocin, we feel more loving, empathetic, compassionate and connected to our partner. It also makes us feel happier when we are with our partner and builds intimacy and connection.
But holding hands can build love and connection in all types of relationships, and is not limited to romantic couples. Holding hands can also improve empathic communication and significantly contributes to the development of loving, lasting & happy relationships. There is no doubt that this is one of the most important benefits of holding hands in a relationship, especially with the person you love.
4. Improves mental health
Holding hands with a loved one not only makes us feel happy and loved, but it is actually good for our mental health. Anxiety can often lead to a constant mental state of fear, uncertainty and stress. It can also increase our blood pressure and cortisol levels. Hand holding relieves anxiety and helps to improve our mental and emotional well-being. This is one of the most notable health benefits of holding hands.
Studies show that normal physical gestures like a tap on the shoulder or holding hands can influence who we feel and behave. “Touch can have a calming effect and alter the way stress is handled, thereby promoting mental and physical health,” explain researchers. In fact. Researchers have also observed that loving physical contact like hugs and hand holding can help to improve negative mood and emotions.
Related: 17 Hand Gestures That Can Improve Your Communication
5. Makes us feel secure and safe
Do you remember when you used to hold your parents’ hands as a child while walking down the street? One of the benefits of holding hands is that it can give a sense of security to children and as adults, we still experience the same comfort, safety and security.
It makes us have a sense of acceptance and belongingness when we feel uncertain and insecure. In fact, studies have shown that hand holding can effectively reduce anxiety and feeling of insecurity in people, especially in adult patients.
6. Helps to reduce stress
Did you know that holding the hands of someone you love can significantly reduce stress? Researchers have found that soothing and consoling physical touch like holding hands or being hugged can decrease cortisol responses to stress and have “protective effects on physiological stress responses.”
When we hold hands in stressful situations, it “improves stress coping” and helps to reduce anxiety, cortisol levels, heart rate and blood pressure. This is the reason why we instinctively hold our loved one’s hands when we are anxious or afraid as it helps us calm down.
Related: 10 Speedy Ways To Connect With Your Spouse When You Don’t Have A Lot Of Time
7. Enhances brain health
As we have discovered, hand holding reduces stress and anxiety and helps the mind to calm down. When someone initiates a physical touch pregnant with love, warmth and empathy, it triggers the release of neurotransmitters and endorphins (dopamine), also known as the happiness hormones.
These help us feel stimulated, excited, joyful and satisfied in relationships and life. This increase in brain chemical release can result in improved brain function and boost mood. This is one of the most promising benefits of holding hands.
8. Boosts sleep quality
When we hold hands with the right person, especially our soulmate, our mind calms down and our heart is filled with happiness and satisfaction. It can also help to relax our body and help us sleep earlier and better. The longer and more frequently you hold your partner’s hands, the better your sleep quality will be.
Related: How A Lack of Gentle Platonic Touch in Men’s Life Is Destroying Them
9. Improves immune system
One of the most subtle benefits of holding hands is that it boosts our immunity. As holding hands can significantly reduce cortisol levels, this can be highly beneficial in improving the immune system. This means holding hands with your loved ones can help you recover from, or even, avoid common illnesses, infections and diseases and keep you healthy in the long run. This is why holding hands is important.
10. Reduces loneliness
As holding hands makes us feel more connected, loved, valued and safe, it can help us overcome feelings of loneliness and isolation. Hand holding is a form of physical conformation that makes us feel accepted and not rejected. It makes us feel like we belong and that there is someone who cares about us and loves us. Studies show that loving physical contact not only helps in emotional communication and bond-building, but it also reduces feelings of loneliness.
Related: How To Speak Your Partner’s Love Language and Strengthen Your Relationship
Here are some other benefits of holding hands with someone you love –
- It is a form of love language that shows your partner how much you love them
- It helps to lower heart rate and reduce blood pressure
- It helps you to overcome fear and uncertainty
- It syncs up the brainwaves of romantic couples
- It improves marital satisfaction and happiness
Hold my hand
A simple touch can mean a lot. It can be a powerful gesture of love that can make someone feel relaxed and safe. Not only can it relieve stress & anxiety and reduce negative emotions, it can also promote mental and physical health, intimacy and love.
So strengthen your relationship and improve your life by utilizing the benefits of holding hands of someone you love to your advantage.
Related: How Committed Is He? Find Out With These Long-Term Love Signals
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
Does holding hands increase love?
Holding hands helps to release the love hormone Oxytocin which can increase feelings of warmth, security, intimacy, closeness and love.
Is holding hands a form of intimacy?
Holding hands is a physical language of love that represents physical & emotional intimacy that may be sexual or non-sexual in nature, depending on whether the relationship is romantic or platonic.
What does it mean when a man interlocks his fingers with yours?
When your boyfriend, husband or partner intertwines and interlocks his fingers with yours, it means that their love is deep. It also depicts they are physically attracted to you and respect and trust you a lot.
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