Pillar:

All Pillars

Goal:

1. Foster a sense of community: Celebrating National Hugging Day at WellKind school can help create a sense of community and belonging among students, teachers, and staff. By promoting a sense of connection and togetherness, we can unite around a common goal: to raise awareness about the importance of hugs and their impact on our emotional and social well-being. This shared experience can help break down barriers, build relationships, and create a positive and supportive school environment.

2. Promote social-emotional learning. Learn the importance of hugs and affection when building relationships.

3. Our goal is to give and receive 13 hugs a day, every day.

Description:

National Hugging Day is January 21st!

We now know that hugging is powerful!

Research shows that a proper deep hug, one where the hearts are pressing together, has numerous benefits. Hugging everyone during National Hugging Day (and any other day) provides us with a strong sense of purpose and passion, knowing that we are changing the world one hug at a time.

Hugging creates strong relationships and helps children develop connections that teach them to feel trust and safety. It also boosts emotional growth and self-esteem.

From the time we are born, our family’s touch shows us that we are loved and special. The associations of self-worth and tactile sensations from our early years are still embedded in our nervous system as adults. The cuddles we received from our parents while growing up remain imprinted at a cellular level, and hugs remind us of that at a somatic level. Hugs, therefore, connect us to our ability to self-love.

Hugging helps us maintain a healthy lifestyle by strengthening the immune system, which regulates and balances the body’s production of white blood cells to keep us healthy and disease-free. It also teaches us gratitude and appreciation, as hugs show us how to give and receive. There is equal value in receiving and being receptive to warmth as there is in giving and sharing.

Hugging creates an awesome environmental impact, as the energy exchanged between two people hugging makes both happier, and that happiness is synergistic. When a person is happy, they tend to make the people around them happy, which in turn brings happiness to the environment. The world, plants, and animals around us feel our amazing energy.

Hugging is also a great brain builder, as it increases levels of dopamine, which regulates our emotional response and reward circuits in the brain. Research has shown that dopamine levels are low in people with mood disorders, such as depression.

Celebrate with us our annual Hug-A-Thon! All you need to do is hug everyone you see and spread the healing power of hugs. We truly believe that we can change the world by hugging heart-to-heart, one hug at a time. Additionally, research shows that hugging (and laughter) is extremely effective in healing sickness, disease, loneliness, depression, anxiety, and stress.