A hug is just a hug, right?
Think again.
What if a hug could make a real difference in your life, both short-term and long-term?
If you are used to giving and receiving hugs and you have never experienced how the lack of hugs feels like, you are in luck. And you are probably underestimating how pivotal hugs can be.
For the rest of us, at the latest, the lockdown due to the coronavirus showed in a very direct and distressing way how life without hugs can look like. And for most people, it has been (or it still is) a kind of life that feels unbearable even for just a couple of weeks.
We have so many words for states of the mind, and so few for states of the body.
Why so? Because most of us, before being forced by the circumstances to remember it, forgot something crucial for our well-being:
For the rest of us, at the latest, the lockdown due to the coronavirus showed in a very direct and distressing way how life without hugs can look like. And for most people, it has been (or it still is) a kind of life that feels unbearable even for just a couple of weeks.
We have so many words for states of the mind, and so few for states of the body.
Jeanne Moreau [1928-2017]
during an interview in 1976
[A beautiful and very stylish hug
between two different generations of French cinema:
Juliette Binoche and Jeanne Moreau, 2011]
We are mammals. We are social animals. We need to belong.
We grow and thrive in a healthy way only when we feel that we belong.
We grow and thrive in a healthy way only when we feel that we belong.
And what can give us a sense of belonging more than a hug?
Very few things, like this enlightening quote by the founder of family reconstruction therapy Virginia Satir explains in a very effective way:
We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth.
Virginia Satir [1916-1988]
The Satir Model: Family Therapy and Beyond
How many hugs are you going to give today?
If social distancing makes it impossible for you to hug someone right now, how many hugs do you want to give, as soon as you will have a chance to do so?
If social distancing makes it impossible for you to hug someone right now, how many hugs do you want to give, as soon as you will have a chance to do so?
Tags: Virginia Satir, Value of hugs, Quotes, Body awareness, Growth mindset, States of the body
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