"[T]imely tome at a time when hugs are needed..." --New York Times"[Y]es. We can change the world with a hug." --Huffington Post"[S]corchingly funny, simple advice, Tara tempts with good 'ole hugs..." --USA Today"I NEED A HUG!" Kids say this a million times. Hugs are magical. Hugs are yummy. Hugs are delicious. Hugs are happiness. So, why then, are we not hugging more? As a people? As a society? As a world? And, more importantly...can we change this? Got 20 seconds -- right now? Take your arms and wrap them around yourself. Squeeze. Squeeze tighter. Squeeze as tight as you can. Good! Hold this pose. Try to inch your fingers farther across your back as you spread your arms wider for a really big, deep hug. Now, please count: (1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, 3 Mississippi...silently count to 20 Mississippi) Okay, let go. Feel it? You feel the calm, the peace, the joy, the relief, the HAPPY inside you? How ridiculously easy was that?How can a hug do that? Can I get some hug analysis here? Yes you can: O X Y T O C I N. Sound it out,then put your sounds together...the word flows off the tongue like happy syrup. I write children's picture books in verse and I am a huge fan of fun-to-say words like this. Dr. Suess was, as well. O X Y T O C I N. Oxseetowsin. It just feels yummy in your mouth. So, what is it? Oxytocin is the hormone released when you hug for 20 seconds or more. A hormone? Yes. Also, a neurotransmitter. Scientists call it a hormone/neurotransmitter that once released creates a feeling of happiness in the body.So, back to how we can all hug ourselves happy...let's remember our past hugs...The good ones. The big ones. The long ones. The first super-duper snuggle...Hug lab: *Spend 20 seconds reading the news headlines. *Then spend 20 seconds hugging someone.See? *Our point of view as *hugger, has changed. *The point of view of our *huggee has changed.Hugging makes us aware that we are literally the other person just as much as we are ourselves. Stress reduced. Heart rate calmed. Things got a little better. We have hugged ourselves happy. You may find, once you start hugging, that your hug-o-meter starts to expand. More! More! More! You may become a hug glutton...xo