Are you a hugger? I definitely am. Always have been and always will be so this COVID 19 thing is wreaking havoc with my hug ability. It may seem silly but I love to hug and receive hugs. Sure, a handshake is nice. An elbow bump like we were practicing just 3 weeks ago was quirky and fun. But hugs ….nothing can replace them.

I remember reading years ago that the human body needed 4 hugs a day to survive. Well, upon looking it up online (the ultimate source of all things true) I discovered that that number appears to have sometime been bumped up to 8. Yes, 8 hugs a day is what is recommended for an adult to have in order to maintain good health both mentally and physically. Now I can not site statistics or show graphs or charts but it seems that that is the consensus online. 8 daily hugs make an adult human happy.

I have started bugging Chris for more hugs since he is my only source right now. Maksim and Holly don’t hug. While they do a lot of great things (tune in later this week for more Maksim madness) they can not hug. So poor Chris is the recipient and I am keeping tally marks on my calendar daily to show our progress towards completing that goal. Goodness knows there isn’t much else on my calendar right now so I might as well mark it up with hug tally marks.

The benefits of hugs are many fold.

Hugging activates the hormone oxytocin, which makes us feel all warm and fuzzy. That’s a good thing.

Hugging has been proven to reduce the amount of cortisol (stress hormone) in our bodies and as a result calms us and sends that message to our brain.

Physical touch such as hugging also helps reduce loneliness. Just think about the power of the last hug you received.

I simply cannot find a downside to consensual hugging. It is the all encompassing feel good for me and I am missing that with friends. I am so grateful I have a husband who is a hugger as well and who senses when I need one. Or eight.

Take time to hug that person today that you are able to and make it last 20 seconds. I would love to hear how if you are missing physical contact during this pandemic. Leave me a comment and Comment for a Cause for WHO Covid 19 Solidarity Fund.