MySpace - Hugs Heal™ - 22 - Female - San Gabriel, California

A study conducted at North Carolina University concluded that hugs increased levels of oxytocin, which reduces blood pressure, which in turn reduces the risk of America's #1 cause of death; Heart Disease

So if you think that hugs are useless,
YOU ARE WRONG.

Kitten hugs

A Hug That Saved a Life

A huge thank-you hug to MaryLee of San Jose, California for sharing this amazing experience.

This is a time I found out for real a hug can make all the difference! It was many years ago, over 22 about, my family worked in the restaurant business and I became a bartender. I thought to make drinks for clients, but I was always giving them rides home or giving them some inspirational message, like typing up the poem Footprints for them. People who spend a lot time in bars are really very sad.

I was working nights, 6pm- 2am, and one night a man came in and he was very quiet. I tried to chat with him but he said little. I was taught to get customers to meet new people, but he was having none of that. I asked him his name, he said, "It doesn’t matter." The beer he was drinking was 80 cents, he was getting 2 dimes back each time. I could see he was making something with his dimes.

Well, as the night came to a close I went around the other side of the bar to clean up the tables and get ready to close. I put the ashtrays on the bar next to him; he stood to leave and feeling his heavy heart I said, "May I give you a hug?", and said, "This shall pass. Give it a few days." He left and when I went back to the bar to clean his spot I saw that he had made a question mark with his dimes. The week-end passed and I went back to work. Monday night when I went out to the car to go home there was a white rose on my car. I asked everyone and no one knew a thing. This happened for 4 nights in a row then on Friday that man I hugged came in the door with a white rose at closing time. I said, "It was you!"

He told me that night he was going to kill himself and because I tried so hard to talk to him and then asked to hug him and said this will pass in a few days, it reminded him of the bible verse he knew from his childhood. But he said it was the hug, someone caring about him and hugging him that made him change his mind. We cried together. I never saw him again, but from time to time I got a white rose and I send a little prayer to him still after all these years.

My name is Regina and I'm the creator of Hugs Heal.

How Hugs Heal got started:

I've always believed hugs are a very important part of every person's life; whether they get give or receive them; but that thought was always kind of abstract. I didn't have anything specific to attribute it to. Then in October 2007 I was reading an article about a study that was done showing that hugs can actually reduce the risk of heart disease. I remember thinking “Wow, hugs really do heal.” It made me think of all the times in my life that I've been made to feel better by being hugged; and all times I've hugged friends and family members when I thought they needed it. I realized that hugs have a far more profound effect on our lives than most people really appreciate.

So, I came up with the "Hugs Heal" idea.

Hugs Heal started out as a simple Myspace account. I sent outsome friends requests, half expecting to get some messages back telling me how corny my idea was. I was pleasantly surprised. Instead of messages berating me for my silly idea, I started receiving emails from people telling me how wonderful they thought it was, asking how they could help mespread my message. The Hugs Heal Myspace grew from there and is still growing. It now has thousands of friends connected to it, many of whom contribute stories, pictures, and videos that depict how hugs heal.

The Hugs Heal Online Community is a social network I started in the hopes of bringing people together through hugs and love. It is a place for everyone who believes that hugs have real healing powerand who have been helped by love and hugs to survive life's challenges.

I also hope to start an in-person club and organize activities like visits to hospitals, passing out sandwiches to the homeless, and protesting Hug Bans in schools. These are just some of the many plans I have for Hugs Heal.

I am only one person running the Hugs Heal Myspace, the Hugs Heal Shop, and now the Hugs Heal Online Community. I need your help to make Hugs Heal grow,expand and touch more people.

Please spread the word! Help me to spread the message that Hugs Heal by placing this banner on your myspace! Just Copy the code below and place in in your "Edit Profile" Section.

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