Hug A Friend Today
Hug a friend today and you both can experience health benefits, it’s true.
Physical contact and positive human connection helps to settle the nervous system and can provide a a small boost of ‘feel good hormones’.
Positive physical contact can be as simple as holding hands or sharing a gentle touch.
In our culture, many of us shy away from physical contact with others unless it is with a family member or significant other. When traveling, I have noticed that close physical contact and the concept of ‘personal space’ takes on a completely different meaning in other countries. At first I ‘held myself in’, then, I realized that it really was tricky to continue to do this as I was becoming stiff and sore and relaxed and mingled with the flow.
In mindful self compassion training, we talk about learning to treat yourself as you treat a friend and learning to calm yourself with soothing touch is one strategy to use when working with ‘big/strong emotions’.
So, today, experiment with hugging a friend and or providing yourself with some type of soothing touch, perhaps, gently touching your face or stroking your arm or putting your hands to your heart.
The actual practice of ‘soften, soothe and allow’ is one that is used in the Mindful Self Compassion Program’ and you can experience a sample of it for yourself with Kristin Neff on the Insight Timer App and Meditations that are 16-20 minutes in length.
Another option for practice is to consider joining us in Mexico for the 9 Day Mindful Self Compassion Training, we would love to have you!