The Joy of Cuddling

Have you ever noticed how wonderful it is to sit on the sofa and just hold each other? Or, maybe just lay in bed in each other’s arms? I’m not talking about anything sexual here; I’m just talking about being able to touch your wife, feel her body against yours, and enjoy the feel of each other. It brings about a sense of security, comfort and peace; just the two of you, holding each other, and enjoying that you can just hold each other.

I think that in the hustle-bustle of daily life, we’ve lost the art of cuddling. Somewhere along the line, simple physical touch has been laid aside for other things, which seemed more important at the moment. In that process, we’ve lost a lot of what it means to be in love.

Physical touch is an important part of both expressing and maintaining your love for one another. Again, I’m not just talking about sexual touch, although what I’m saying does apply to that as well. But there is a definite need to touch one another, without sex being a part of it.

Back in October, I mentioned the hormone oxytoxin. This is the hormone, found in both men and women, which is released by physical touch. Like all hormones, oxytoxin has an emotional effect as well as a physical one. The emotional effect of oxytoxin is to make us feel like we are in love with the other person. So, quite literally, making love or any other intimate non-sexual touch produces love (or at least the feeling of love) in us.

I’d have to say that maintaining a good oxytoxin level is an important ingredient in maintaining a marriage healthy. All too often, couples “fall out of love” because they are beset on every side by problems. Both of them are so busy fighting fires, that they don’t have the time or energy to put into maintaining the love in the marriage. Well, cuddling is a great yet easy way to recharge the love batteries.

You know, you can even cuddle when you’re both worn out, worn down, and ready to collapse. All you’ve got to do is make sure you collapse together, in a way that you are holding one another. Now, what could be easier than that?

In a sense, cuddling has the ability to heal our emotions. Why do you think that children want to be held when they’re sad or hurt? They want that healing. Just being together, holding each other, feeling each other’s heartbeat, will help you overcome that feeling of being worn out and worn down. You’ll get up revived and rejuvenated and even more in love.