Connection

This morning I had a lovely coffee with a friend, catching up on all the important and not so important stuff going on in our busy worlds. It prompted me to fire off my thoughts on connection and why I believe it is so so important to our overall well-being!!

I came away from my catch-up this morning feeling really good. Really good. I wandered into town afterwards pretty relaxed. Not racing to my next meeting or appointment, just strolling to OPSM to see about a head band for Liv's glasses, casually thinking about what I might have for lunch.

Now we didn't solve all the world's problems, we didn't even try! We just connected, we laughed, we drank good coffee, we talked about what's on our plates at the moment, what some of those challenges are, what's coming up in the next few weeks. Just talking and listening.

The power of human contact HUGE!!!

If you want to get all sciency, when considering Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, next to food, water and safety, LOVE & BELONGING are the most important needs we must fulfill. When we talk about love and belonging we are talking about our desire for interpersonal relationships, to connect with others. When these needs are met our overall well-being improves.

We are social beings, we thrive on connection and coming together. Whether that is just two friends interacting with each other, a hug from a loved one after a long day or taking a break in nature with family. It really doesn't matter. It doesn't always need to involve talking just time spent close to someone can have profound benefits.

Lots of research over the last couple of years on the health benefits of connections:

• Mood boosting

• Stress reduction

• Improved self esteem

• Longer lifespan

• Improved quality of life

A small moment in time where the simple pleasure of spending time with a friend, no agenda, no timeline, just filling my cup in such an unexpected way. It really reminded me of how important connection is!