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“…I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back…”- Maya Angelou
I was told about an article that was on msnliving.com written by Esquire 270 Seconds to a Better Marriage. The article gives you three action items to complete on a daily basis. After I read the article I felt like 90 seconds three times a day is a bit much for me. On the other hand, there are days that I go with out touching my hubby. It’s not something I want for us so I’ve been trying to hold him tight everyday once a day since I read the article. He sometimes does the one armed hug thing and I usually ask him to hug me with both arms. When he holds me tight, it’s like ahhhh. It feels so good. I have yet to try it when I’m upset with him. That might turn into one of our challenges.
I read another article on sciencemag.org written by Rebecca Kessler Hugs Follow a 3-Second Rule which talked about humans operating in 3-second increments. A psychologist, Emese Nagy, analyzed the Olympic finals in 21 sports and reported that athletes hugged their coaches longer than they hugged their teammates and hugged their opponents for an even shorter amount of time. After taking all of this information into consideration; I realized that someone I love deserves not a hug but an embrace. One that’s not necessarily 90 seconds long but not three seconds short either.
Here is your challenge for the month of January:
Embrace your mate for a minimum of 30 seconds once a day, everyday. You are to hold them with both arms. If they are not holding you with both arms you need to nicely ask, can you hug me with both arms? Trust me, it feels so good.
If you would like something a little more challenging try adding this:
You must do as above AND kiss them on their neck or on their lips or anywhere you want.
A good way to get into the habit of doing this is putting in a daily alarm on your cellphone, writing a note on the refrigerator door, or a sticky note placed on your bathroom mirror. Good luck and let me know how it goes at the end of the month. If you have any questions please feel free to leave your question in the comment section. As always, if you are not comfortable entering your personal information remember that you can abbreviate your name and your e-mail will not be disclosed.
Please remember to sign up to follow my blog to ensure you get your challenge each month. Thank you!
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LSR Sessions 
LSR Challenge update: The hubby and I were hugging on a daily basis. It was great! We were happy and in a good mood he even made a joke about the process. Then the last week and a half we were both under a lot of stress due to an upcoming move and an unexpected health issue. During this stressful time I found it hard to make it a priority to hug. I was tired, overwhelmed, and just plain worn out. We did cuddle a few times but I could definitely tell we were not in the same boat we were at the beginning of the month. Bottom line, hugging helped me feel closer to my hubby. I need to work on hugging him when we’re upset or stressed.