Free Hugs
What is the holistic approach to health see what a simple Hug can do.
I stumbled upon a story the other day about the Free Hug Campaign, the free What? You ask! Let me start from the beginning. Back in June of 2004 a person by the name of Juan Mann (22) after returning from a trip to England got the impression that there was a lot of miserable people in the world, and wouldn’t it be a good idea to do a random act of kindness and give out free hugs. Hence the free hugs campaign was born. Juan and a group of his friends went to the Pitt street mall in Sydney Australia holding up large signs that read Free Hugs.
The results were amazing, ordinary people would just stop out of their busy schedule for a hug from a stranger. Not everyone was receptive to the idea, as an older gentleman announced “I’m not hugging another man”, some people would cross to the other side of the street to avoid Mann and his crew, but for the majority it brought a smile to many faces in an otherwise stressful world. In September 2006 one of Mann’s hugging campaigns made the front page of You Tube and the rest is history. After over 4 million views the idea has been copied by others all over the world and is gaining in popularity.
If you think about it, do you realize how big of a difference a hug can make in someones life, if it only brings a smile to that person’s face for a second it was well worth it. I don’t know about you but every time I watch that video it brings tears to my eyes, and that is exactly what I am talking about, the feelings that a mere little hug can produce can also make huge changes in someones life.
Hugging accomplishes many things that you may have never thought of:
Feels good
Dispels loneliness
Overcomes fears
Opens doors to feelings
Builds self esteem (Wow, he actually wants to hug me!)
Eases tension
Makes happy days happier
Imparts feelings of belonging
Keeps on working to dispense benefits even after the hug is released
Do you know in the Special Olympics they have volunteer positions as hugger’s.
And the Children’s burn units in hospitals, Hugs mean the world to them.
How many times as a child when you hurt yourself or got your feelings hurt, the only thing you needed to feel better was a Hug from mom?
If you’ve decided that you want to start hugging more, realize that it may not be easy at first. Of course, if you’re the bold type and walking up to friends and giving them a hug when you’re used to ‘air-kissing’ doesn’t bother you a bit, get into action! But if you are slightly more reserved, you may find it difficult to break the mold. This is because we are so used to behaving a certain way with certain people in our lives, that we can’t suddenly change our actions towards them without the thought, ‘Oh my God, whatever happened to her!’ running through their brain. Break the social programming, like the older gentleman said I’m not hugging another man. So if hugging someone has not been a part of your communication with certain people, it will be difficult to start - but not impossible.
Get out there and give someone a Hug, the benefits on both sides are immense.
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*hugs*hugs*