Welcome to the Tweed Trends podcast. Hey, Evette, what's trending today? Hey, I'm Evette, hey girl! And you are tuned in to Tweed Trends.
It's the quickest way to find out what's trending today. Welcome back to Tweed Trends Trends. Today is National Hugging Day. The word hug is believed to come from the word hugo, meaning comfort, in the Old Norse language.
It is hugton. Hugton! Come forth, listen, chrono. Well, alright then, let's get started.
So last week while I was planning for today, I was so excited. I was really looking forward to it. The weather was all nice and warm, and the plan was to go downtown, find a nice little area where people kind of frequent, with a sign saying, free hugs, and see how many people would give me a hug. But it is cold as all get out today.
You hear me? It is way, way cold. The wind is blowing. It is just not nice.
So I feel like it would be kind of selfish if I went and tried to do that because I know me. I would be looking for people to give me a hug so that I could try to stay warm. That could be kind of creepy because I could see myself hugging someone extra long, especially if they're warm, and be like, okay, now you've taken this to the extreme. So, yeah, having to rethink my plan for today how I'm going to get out there and give and get some hugs, but just saying back to the hugs though.
So because touch is considered our first sense that we acquire and that our skin is our largest sensory organ, just like how our other senses can bring on great feelings and emotions, you know, the things that we see with our eyes or here with our ears, or even smell, being wrapped in a warm embrace of someone that you trust can fulfill a wide range of emotional and physical needs that you might not have even realized that you had. As a matter of fact, I was just listening to you Heather B on Sirius XM Urban View yesterday when she replayed an interview that she had with a sexologist. Her name was Michelle Hope. If you want to find her on Instagram, I think she's M-H Sexpert.
The letter M as in Mary, H as in Happy Sexpert, like Expert, but Sexpert. Anyway, she mentioned something called skin hunger in relation to young children, especially boys, where you know how with boys, especially the dads, try to toughen these little boys up. So they stop having as much physical contact, like they don't hug their little boys as much anymore, or hold them or touch them. Which brings on a longing in these little boys to be touched.
Now we're not talking about sexual touch here, just something as simple as a hug. But if they can't get it at home, then they'll try to find it wherever they can, which can then put them in a bad place, especially if a predator or someone with ill intentions were to run across them and realize this longing for skin to skin touch that these boys may have. So, yeah, skin hunger didn't realize that was a thing, but it fit so well in today's topic, I had to mention it. So once again, it's an interview on Head of Be Live on SiriusXM Urban View, and the young lady's name was Michelle Hope, and she's a sexologist.
So just like the old Take Two of These and Call Me in the Morning type prescriptions, did you realize that it's recommended that you get four hugs a day for survival, eight hugs a day for maintenance, and 12 hugs a day for growth? That sounds like a lot of hugs, but you probably are already getting your kneaded hugs in unless you're living under a rock or on a mountaintop all by yourself. But you can hug yourself and reap the same benefits as what you would if somebody else was hugging you. On top of that, when people hug for 20 seconds or more, the feel-good hormone oxytocin is released, which creates a stronger bond in connection between the huggers.
Oxytocin has been shown to boost the immune system and reduce stress. So you might be meeting your hug quota, but how long are you actually hugging for? So try it out, time yourself in a 20 second hug. I recommend doing this with someone you know and love, or even yourself, because otherwise it can feel a little awkward and borderline creepy.
See what it feels like and then consider starting your day with a 20 second hug every day. For the non-huggers out there, I used to be just like you. It just felt really weird to hug people, and on top of that I was borderline germaphobe, so that didn't help anything either. But I just wasn't digging on hugging and being hugged.
Maybe it was the release of the oxytocin that my brain and body just couldn't figure out what it was or what was happening to me. I don't know. When I think back about my family, I don't remember a whole lot of hugs growing up, and maybe it happened and I just don't remember it. Or maybe it was when I was really young and then as we got older it tapered off, but I know for a fact that it wasn't until I moved out of the state.
And then when I would come back to visit, that's when I would get hugs from my parents. And it would just be so weird to walk in the house and be greeted with a hug. And it's kind of like, oh wow, this was weird. But yeah, like I even joke about not being ticklish because no one tickled me as a baby.
And I don't know that for a fact either. But that's my story and I'm sticking to it. And that's my own self-diagnosis. But about 11 years ago I was introduced to kangaroo care.
So my husband and I, we had a son that was born with a birth defect and was in the NICU. And I was introduced to kangaroo care where they put the baby on your bare skin, on your chest, and you just sit there and you hold them. And I can tell you I got some of the best feelings, just like feel good feelings from holding my child in doing the whole kangaroo care thing. And I haven't been the same since.
So sometimes when I feel like my battery is running low, I'll ask my husband for a hug just because. And I'll like close my eyes and take a deep cleansing breath. Actually it's usually a bunch of them because I'll hug them for a really long time. And he always thinks that I'm sighing and like, all what's wrong?
You know, is everything okay? And that's not it. It's just the fact that I'm breathing in all the good stuff and breathing out all the bad stuff if there was anything in there. Just my own personal way of feeling my take.
So if you're like how I was, then, hey guess what? It's possible that you can change. But if you choose not to, you can still hug yourself. Nothing crazy or creepy about that.
And you get to keep your germs to yourself. Well, I hope you learned a thing or two about hugging today. Nowadays we don't even think about the fact that hugging in public was once considered indecent PDA. And speaking of hugs, how about you give me a virtual hug when I follow me on Twitter at hay.
That's at he. y. e. d.
e. t. e. or just look for the hashtag tweet trends.
Alright, so now get on out there and start getting out some hugs and getting hugs in return. Shoot for that 12 or even how about this? Go for a baker's dozen. Get a little extra just in case.
And but but but don't hug anybody against their will. Okay? Make sure they are consenting that they say yes, it's all right to hug them. Okay?
Because I want you to come back and hear me on Thursday too. Alright, so have a great one and I'll see you back here on Thursday. Bye.