GOLD MEDAL WINNING HUGGER KOLO MARTIN TALKS ABOUT THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF HUGGING AND GIVES SOME GUIDANCE ON SUCCESSFUL HUGGING

It is very stylish in Europe to kiss somebody on both cheeks. However, whilst this is an efficient means of exchanging germs, hugging can lay claim to wonderful health benefits for all participants. Therapist Virginia Satir was quoted in the US National Examiner recently as saying that the physical benefits of hugging include reduce heart rate, overall mood enhancement, relief of pain, depression and anxiety as well as emotion benefits such as feelings of safety and security. Well we didn’t need a therapist to tell us that, our own Twitter friend Marley Terrier has often called me into his Dr Marley surgery to fill a prescription for HUGS. So what are the health benefits of hugging? Well who wouldn’t want to give or receive a big loving hug from a friend? What could make you feel more valued, safe, appreciated and loved? There is no doubt that being hugged has health benefits including the emotional well being that follows a good hug.

There are definite benefits for huggers too. The act of opening your arms to give a big hug opens the lungs and enables you to take in deep gulps of fresh air. That is a good start! Then the gentle tightening of the arms around the pal you are hugging can help to develop arm strength and muscle definition. But that is not all, the bonus is that you cannot give or receive a hug without smiling and smiling has its own benefits too many to mention them all but one of them is the benefit to the facial muscles including promoting a youthful glow to the complexion and people would pay lots of money for that, but they wouldn’t need to if they would just hug a pal!

So how do you give a successful hug? It depends on the circumstances, who are you hugging? Is it a happy hug or are you lending support to a pal in distress. A robust happy hug is welcomed by healthy friends of a similar size and you can be quite decisive in your hug. Here you can see how to give a good strong hug to a number of friends who are fit and strong and do not need careful treatment. You can see that we are not worried about hurting each other we are having fun celebrating a goal scored by our football team.




Here I am hugging a much smaller anipal. My friend Happy Ted has agreed to model this kind of gentle careful hug where you take care not to hurt your pal. This has different health benefits for the hugger, as you can develop manual dexterity which is useful in all sorts of situations.

So remember, the important points are that hugging has health benefits for both parties, the hugger and the pal being hugged, but the most important thing to remember when you are hugging is do it with love and it will have benefits that you would never even imagine.