“Analysis is the way of the mind, hugging is the way of the heart. The mind is the cause of all diseases, and the heart is the source of all healing.” Osho (The Wild Geese and the Water #4, 1981)

A hug. How simple and direct. It is greeting and farewell. Invited, it can be an act of surprising intimacy. Uninvited, it can be an act of violation. We humans, we hunger for connection, for belonging. Separation is painful. We long to bridge the chasm of aloneness, and very few actions are as effective in bridging that chasm as a simple hug.

According to an article I read from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), when a person hugs, a substance called oxytocin, sometimes called “the love hormone”, is released in the brain. As I understand it, the oxytocin promotes feelings of generosity, affection, sexual arousal, and trust, as well as social bonding. Oxytocin levels increase during sexuality and orgasm, as well as during hugging, holding and kissing.
Psychologists and sociologists speculate that humans have always hugged, and that, hugging promoted trust, thus leading towards the pair bonding humans have needed for procreation and child-rearing.

By the way, the NIH also claimed hugging reduces stress levels and blood pressure. So maybe in addition to that “apple a day”, we would do well to have at least one hug a day to “keep the doctor away.” And, as noted American author and psychotherapist Virginia Satir once coached:
“We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth.”