{"id":766,"date":"2013-03-14T19:50:48","date_gmt":"2013-03-14T19:50:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.success-academy.org\/home\/?p=766"},"modified":"2013-03-14T19:50:49","modified_gmt":"2013-03-14T19:50:49","slug":"why-snuggle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.success-academy.org\/home\/why-snuggle\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Snuggle?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I could not resist blogging on this subject!<br \/>\nI must warn you that <strong>I have no scientific background and that this post was done based on Internet research<\/strong> that fascinated me but the scientific accuracy of which I cannot be held responsible.<\/p>\n<p>But then, what the heck?<br \/>\nI\u2019m not advising anyone to take pills or go bunji-jumping, just to <strong>SNUGGLE.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Why?<\/strong><br \/>\nBecause it has a positive effect on our physical and mental health!<\/p>\n<p>Psychologist <strong>Virginia Satir<\/strong> widely regarded as the &#8220;Mother&#8221; of Family Therapy once said, \u201cWe need four hugs a day for survival. We need eight hugs a day for maintenance. We need twelve hugs a day for growth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When we touch someone else (let\u2019s keep it non sexual \u2013 anything in this department will come as a plus\u2026) our brains produce more serotonin and oxytocin.<br \/>\n<strong>Serotonin<\/strong> is known to regulate aging, learning and memory plus it may help protect against the onset of various mental and physical disorders.<br \/>\n<strong>Oxytocin<\/strong> evokes feelings of contentment and reduces anxiety plus studies have shown that oxytocin released with human bonding causes increases in trust and decreases in fear.<\/p>\n<p>Engaging in touch also reduces the amount of cortisol we produce.<br \/>\n<strong>Cortisol<\/strong> is released in response to stress, diverting energy away from \u2018low-priority activities\u2019 such as the immune system in order to survive immediate threats.<\/p>\n<p>Several therapies have been developed around the healing properties of touch and embrace. <strong>Healing Touch International, Inc.<\/strong> (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.healingtouchinternational.org\/\">www.healingtouchinternational.org<\/a>) is a non-profit that claims to treat maladies like stress, depression and physical pain, through practitioners placing their hands above or lightly on patients as they lie on a<br \/>\ntable.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jacqueline Samuel<\/strong> has taken her belief in the healing power of touch a step further by opening The Snuggery (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thesnuggery.org\/\">www.thesnuggery.org<\/a>), a place to take a break from the hustle and bustle of life and focus on the simple restorative pleasure of touch. At The Snuggery, Jacqueline provides individuals with private snuggling sessions. She aims to make the world a gentler place, one snuggle at a time.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.success-academy.org\/home\/why-snuggle\/hug\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-767\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-767\" alt=\"hug\" src=\"http:\/\/www.success-academy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/hug-300x243.jpg\" width=\"210\" height=\"170\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.success-academy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/hug-300x243.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.success-academy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/hug.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 210px) 100vw, 210px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Although being a very selective snuggler and hugger (just my husband and daughter) I have to agree that some days I would not survive without a massive dose of hugs. Others, just \u2018lots\u2019 is enough.<\/p>\n<p>So my call to action is: <strong>GIVE MORE HUGS!<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Hug your loved ones and I\u2019m sure you will live healthier and happier lives!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I could not resist blogging on this subject! I must warn you that I have no scientific background and that this post was done based on Internet research that fascinated me but the scientific accuracy of which I cannot be held responsible. But then, what the heck? I\u2019m not advising anyone to take pills or [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.success-academy.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.success-academy.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.success-academy.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.success-academy.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.success-academy.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=766"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.success-academy.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":771,"href":"https:\/\/www.success-academy.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766\/revisions\/771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.success-academy.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.success-academy.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.success-academy.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}