Think aloud
When in doubt, hug it out! There are two types of people in the world: those who consider themselves huggers and those who don’t. The simple act of affection goes a long way in keeping your relationship happy and healthy, so today we’re talking about why hugging is so important in a marriage.
When you hug your partner, you’re actually working on your physical and emotional well-being without even knowing it. We do encourage people to be mindful of their personal space and do whatever works for them, but there are some awesome advantages to hugging that might make you a hugger, too.
We can’t forget about the health benefits of hugging that make a case for embracing this form of nonverbal communication either. When you think about it, hugging benefits everyone. It makes you feel safe and secure around your partner. It makes your partner feel appreciated and taken care of.
It’s great!
We understand that it’s easy to forget how much of a positive impact a single hug can have, especially if you’re in a long-term relationship or marriage, but that’s why we’re here. We’ve prepared a few of our favorite reasons why hugging is so important in a marriage.
Dive in for a warm embrace of knowledge!
10 reasons why hugging is so important in a marriage
1. Hugging can help you communicate better with your spouse
Whether consciously or subconsciously, we communicate better with people we’re physically close to. Whether that refers to people we hug, sleep with, or simply allow to enter our personal space, there’s something about being physically close to someone that makes us emotionally closer to them, too.
What does that mean for your marriage? You and your spouse are almost always going to be more open to a conversation after you’ve spent a couple of minutes hugging each other, holding each other, or even kissing. You’re going to feel much closer to each other and you’re going to communicate better.
2. Hugging can keep you and your spouse stress-free
An apple a day might keep the doctor away, but you might be better off with a hug, especially when you’re trying to work on your marriage. A marriage can stress you out (a lot!), regardless of your relationship with your spouse, and that’s why you might feel like you need an outlet for your stress.
Sure, that might sound silly, but taking the time of the day to feel closer to your spouse, to hug, or to physically connect with your spouse can make a world of difference in your stress levels.
When you come home from work and your spouse greets you at the door with a hug, you immediately feel better because you know you’re home. We’d say that’s your cue to go to your spouse right now and demand all the hugs you can get.
3. Hugging can reduce inflammation
When we mentioned that hugging comes with a bunch of health benefits, we weren’t kidding. Researchers seem to have been quite concerned with the effect of hugging on our overall health, and we’ve found quite a few studies related to the topic.
Starting with the most commonly quoted study, hugging can apparently reduce inflammation. Inflammation typically happens as a physiological response to illness because your body wants to fight off infection. Lower inflammation means you’re done fighting – you’re healthy.
With a little help from your spouse, you’re more likely to bounce back quicker after an illness.
4. Hugging can make you more open with your spouse
We don’t even need to explain why that’s the case, right? When you hug your spouse, you create a bond with them that stretches beyond the duration of the hug. We mentioned beforehand that physical intimacy can evolve into emotional intimacy, and that’s exactly why hugging your spouse works.
Whether the two of you have been drifting apart, getting tired of each other, or fighting each other over nothing, you might want to try working on your physical intimacy. A simple hug a day can go a long way, and we can assure you that both you and your spouse are going to notice the difference right away.
5. Hugging can reduce blood pressure
Who would’ve thought hugging could keep your heart happy and healthy too? Research suggests that the number of hugs received from a spouse (or someone special) yields lower blood pressure scores.
Your blood pressure directly affects your cardiovascular health, which means that your spouse can directly affect the health of your heart.
You might want to have an open and honest conversation with your spouse about hugging each other more frequently, especially if you’re suffering from cardiovascular problems. You might think we’re kidding, but something as simple as a hug can turn your entire day around.
6. Hugging can help you bond with your spouse
When you hug your spouse after a silly fight, a hard day at work, or after spending your entire day taking care of everyone else’s needs, you feel great, right? Your spouse would probably say the same thing about hugging you, and that’s exactly why hugging is so important in a marriage.
Whenever you’re going through a tough time or fighting to keep your marriage afloat, try to remember that the little things make the biggest difference. Talk things through, find the time to date each other or surprise each other, and hug – a hug from your spouse can make you feel like you’re on top of the world.
7. Hugging can help you feel less alone
Sometimes you might feel like you’re the only one dealing with work-related problems, getting burnt out from all the obligations you have to take care of, or going through a traumatic event that’s preventing you from moving on with your life – or your marriage.
Whenever you feel that way, a hug from your spouse can make you feel a million times better. A hug means that you’re safe and secure right there where you are. A hug means that you’re taken care of. A hug means that you can let your walls down, cry, and deal with your emotions one step at a time.
8. Hugging can reduce the symptoms of a common cold
When your spouse gets sick, you probably don’t think to hug them, hold them, or approach them because you don’t want to get sick too – and that’s completely fine.
With that out of the way, though, research suggests that frequent hugs reduce the effects of interpersonal conflict on the severity of the common cold infection.
Hugs serve as a stress buffer that prevents the common cold from getting out of hand. However, that doesn’t mean that you can cure your spouse with a simple hug – you still need to see the doctor, get the proper medication you need to get better, and rest.
9. Hugging can help you handle conflict
We all know that marriages come with ups and downs we need to accept, work on, and address accordingly when the time comes.
You and your spouse have probably had your share of conflicts, arguments, and fights over the silliest of things, but you probably didn’t think that a simple hug could help you solve the problem.
Sure, hugging won’t make the problem go away. Still, when you and your partner take the time (and effort) to hug after a fight, you’re more likely to apologize to each other, work on fixing the problem, and acknowledge the fact that the two of you are more important than whatever problem you’re dealing with.
10. Hugging promotes the production of oxytocin
Oxytocin, or the ‘love’ hormone, plays a huge part in your marriage too. With a little help from oxytocin, you and your spouse are going to feel closer than ever, and what better way to achieve that than with a series of hugs that get bigger and better with time?
Oxytocin serves as a stress buffer too, and makes you feel closer and more connected to your spouse.
Research suggests that increased hugging equals increased levels of oxytocin, and we can see why that’s the case. Rather than pouting at your spouse for doing something stupid, the two of you can simply hug it out and move on with your lives.
And that’s everything you need to know about why hugging is so important in a marriage.