They Teach It at Stanford University!!!
In an evening class at Stanford the last
lecture was on the mind-body connection - the relationship between stress and
disease. The speaker (head of psychiatry at Stanford) said, among other
things, that one of the best things that a man could do for his health is to
be married to a woman whereas for a woman, one of the best things she could
do for her health was to nurture her relationships with her girlfriends. At
first everyone laughed, but he was serious.
Women connect with each
other differently and provide support systems that help each other to deal
with stress and difficult life experiences. Physically this quality “
girlfriend time" helps is to create more serotonin - a neurotransmitter that
helps combat depression and can create a general feeling of well-being. Women
share feelings whereas men often form relationships around activities. We
share from our souls with our "sisters", and evidently that is very
GOOD
for our health. He said that spending time with a friend is just as
important to our general health as jogging or working out at a
gym.
There's a tendency to think that when we are "exercising" we
are doing something good for our bodies, but when we are hanging out
with friends, we are wasting our time and should be more
productively engaged - not true. In fact, he said that failure to create and
maintain quality personal relationships with other humans is as dangerous to
our physical health as smoking !
So every time you hang out to
schmooze with a gal pal, just pat yourself on the back and congratulate
yourself for doing something good for your health! We are indeed very, very
lucky. Sooooo let's toast to our friendship with our girlfriends. Evidently
it's very good for our health.
Share this to all your girlfriends and
stay in touch!
Thanks to all the girls in my life who have helped me stay
healthy, happy, and feeling very loved.p.s. I researched the above article and was unable to find the source but did
find lots of blogs and websites who felt it was meaningful enough to share as
well. I hope you enjoyed it and that it inspires you to be a better friend! Plus
I’ve read similar research (like this by the NY Times – What are Friends
for? A longer life!) so I believe these statements to be true. Girlfriends are
good for your health!
Love & Light, Carolyn Shannon & Associates
