a gesture good for morale and health

Hugging releases hormones of happiness and well-being, so experts recommend doing it daily to feel good.

Tuesday January 21 is International Hugs Day. A concept invented by an American reverend who noticed that at the start of the year everyone was a little depressed and who thought that we would all be better off overall if we hugged each other more often. In 1986, he launched the concept of Hug Day, which consists of offering a hug in a public place without compensation to a person chosen at random, but consenting, of course.

This world day is a way of reminding us how essential hugs are to morale, and even to life. Did you know, for example, that to feel happy it is necessary to cuddle at least seven minutes a day, or four cuddles a day; estimates vary among cuddle experts? Did you also know that children grow bigger and better when they see their parents cuddling and that cuddling is even essential for babies' survival?

Hugs are also good for adult health, thanks to the release of hormones of happiness and well-being such as oxytocin, dopamine, endorphin. All these “ine” things that make us feel good, lower our stress and high blood pressure levels. And then the advantage is that hugs have their universal language, that of the body which takes over when words fail us.

Since October 2024 in New Zealand, an airport has banned hugs lasting more than three minutes to optimize traffic… Even though you should never interrupt a hug. Because we all need life to drag on, time to stretch and, as Romain Gary wrote in his book Big hug : “Tenderness has seconds that beat more slowly than others.“