I’m gutted cuddling is allowed again – I hate hugging and having it banned was the only plus of Covid
CUDDLES are back from Monday but while some of us can’t wait
for the fuzzy feeling of a warm embrace, others are dreading it,
as our two writers explain.
Yes please, says Ellen Manning, 38
JOURNALIST Ellen, who lives in Rugby, Warks, with firefighter husband Jamie, also 38, cannot wait for a hug fest. She says…
FINALLY, just two sleeps until Monday and the moment I have been waiting for — hugs are back, and boy am I ready.
Watch out Hermes delivery guy, it is going to be a day of squeezes, and any other physical contact I can lay my hands on.
I’m already plotting a whistle-stop hugging tour from 9am, going to all the friends and relatives I haven’t touched for months.
Since restaurants and pubs will be serving indoors, the barman could well find himself dragged into my clutches too.
I realise some won’t be as comfortable as I am about getting up close, and resisting the urge to hug anyone and everyone will be tough.
I have liked physical contact for as long as I can remember — holding hands, sofa snuggles, anything will do. But hugs are the pièce de résistance for a tactile person like me.
There’s just something comforting and exciting about being wrapped up in an embrace.
I get that not everybody feels the same about hugs, even pre-Covid, and my cuddling bug has left me red-faced more than once.
Like the time I first met a work contact after we had exchanged a few emails and threw my arms around him without thinking.
It was only when he said: “Oh, this is a new way of starting a meeting,” that I froze, stuck in the limbo of that awkward moment for what felt like minutes rather than seconds.
I have even been known to hug a startled shop assistant who has helped me pick out an outfit.
My husband has come to expect my impromptu cuddle demands and takes me as I am but my best friend Lianne acts as a buffer when I meet new people.
“Ellen’s not good with personal space,” she warns them at social events, and she has no qualms in ordering me to back off when I snuggle up to her on the sofa while watching TV.
Children are the best hugging partners and they feed my habit.
My nephews used to love an “Auntie Ellen” squeeze, but now they’re in their 20s they just about tolerate my cuddles.
Thank goodness my nieces, the oldest who’s 14, still welcome my advances.
While it isn’t my plan to upset the anti-hug camp, my arms are back — and I’ve got some serious making up to do.
Hug numbers
1 in 5 now feel safe enough to touch someone they don’t live with
82% of us still shun physical contact to stop the spread of Covid
No thanks, says Natasha Harding, 45
NATASHA, a yoga teacher who lives in Cornwall with husband Paul, 51, a wholesaler, and their children Zak, 14, and seven-year-old Lexi, says…
IT is a struggle finding many plus points from the past year but for me, a Covid ban on cuddles has been one big bonus.
I simply don’t understand the need to kiss, touch and squeeze — what’s wrong with just saying hello?
One of my earliest cuddling memories is of an uncle squeezing me so tightly that I felt I was going to suffocate.
His invasion of my personal space felt like an attack and I made a promise to myself that I would never force my kids to dish out the cuddles when they didn’t want to — and I will stick to my guns come Monday.
As I have got older, my hug-hating has become difficult to disguise.
Though I do a good job of being warm and welcoming, my brother, best friend and aunt all say that every time they try to give me a tender embrace, I clam up.
Many a time they have tried to pull me into their arms, and I’ve ducked out of the way, fending off their affections with a tentative pat on the back.
I am the hug-dodging master and have perfected the technique over the years.
A quick side-step, followed by an arm squeeze and my greeting is complete.
Even interviewing my childhood crush Luke Goss, now 52, from Eighties group, Bros three years ago didn’t flick on my cuddle switch.
We had met before but as he swooshed into the room and pulled me into an awkward and enormous bear hug, I froze. He picked up the signals, quickly pulled away and said, “Wow, you don’t like hugs, do you?”
When it comes to my children, I dish out the hugs by the bucketload and I am a loving and affectionate mum.
But when they were toddlers there were times I struggled with their cuddling demands. Having them paw me and wanting to constantly sit on my lap was sometimes too much to bear.
As for hugs with my hubby, I would rather he made me a cup of tea than pull me in for a cuddle and, luckily, he doesn’t complain.
I’m as glad as the next person that a return to normality is now in sight. But as for hugs? You can keep them.
Embrace its benefits on body and mind
SO how can a good hug help us?
ANTI-AGEING
Oxytocin is important in maintaining a youthful body and healthy muscles – and levels drop as we age.
Since hugging increases release of the hormone, it can also help prevent ageing, say researchers from the University of California.
PREVENTS ILLNESS
A link has been found between receiving hugs and a boosted immune system.
A study published by Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania found people who hugged more frequently were less likely to get sick and, if they did, the symptoms were less severe.
LOWERS BLOOD PRESSURE
A brief embrace can lower blood pressure, a study in the journal Comprehensive Psychology said.
When the stress hormone cortisol is released into the bloodstream it increases blood pressure.
But just ten seconds of hugging can decrease levels of cortisol.
KEEPS YOU SLIM
If levels of serotonin slump, the brain gets a signal the body is hungry, and we feel the urge to eat.
As levels normalise, the desire to snack disappears.
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BRINGS NATURAL PAIN RELIEF
Hugging can alleviate pain by releasing endorphins, which block pain pathways, while improving circulation.
In a study by Wichita State University and the Kansas Heart Hospital, people with fibromyalgia – a condition that causes widespread pain and extreme tiredness – reported an increase in quality of life and less pain after light touching therapy.