Optimum Health the Paleo Way by Claire Yates

Author:Claire Yates
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Red Wheel/Weiser
Published: 2014-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

Nurturing relationships

Relationships are another aspect to “whole health” that a lot of people forget about. Relationships can make us sick or they can make us healthy. When I talk about relationships, I am not just talking about romantic relationships; I am talking about every interaction we have, with both humans and animals.

Human beings are highly social creatures, but in our technology-driven world, we are losing the art of communication and nurturing relationships. We used to eat around a family table and talk over dinner; now we sit in front of the TV and zone out. We used to know our neighbors, but nowadays many people do not even know who lives next to them. We used to make time to catch up with our friends and discuss life; now we Facebook or Tweet them. It is all very superficial, and we are living in a very isolated world, especially in big cities.

People with good social networks have fewer healthcare visits and spend less money on health care. People who have frequent face-to-face contact with friends have lower rates of depression. Being social and nurturing relationships keeps us well!

Touch is another important aspect to nurturing relationships. It is not uncommon for humans to touch, even on first meeting. It might be a handshake, a hug, or some other contact. It is reassuring, opens communication, and sustains social bonds.

Touch or hugging, however, is often confused with things of a sexual nature, which is a misconception, but it has infiltrated our society. We do not hug as much anymore, which is sad, because hugging and touch is innately human and is so beneficial for our health—it is healing. When babies are not touched, they develop “failure to thrive.” As adults, we still crave this human touch. Hormones such as oxytocin are released, which help to further enhance trusting social bonds. A good hug can reduce your stress, get you out of a bad mood, make you feel acknowledged, and be wonderfully reassuring.

In our busy, technologically advanced world, it is easy to forget the little things and not reach out and develop good social networks. It is, however, important to your health. So go and give your friends a good old-fashioned hug!

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.