Hugging is an easy, free way of showing that you care. I have a friend whose birth name is Larry but his ‘real name’ is HUGMAN. Every day he hugs bunches of people. Larry has two rules when it comes to hugging.

1. Always ask first.

2. Always be the last one to let go.

When Larry hugs, it is as if nothing and no one else exists in that moment, Connect heart to heart. Embrace life full out!

www.freehugscampaign.org is the website for another hugmeister….Juan Mann who courageously took to the streets…armed with..well..his arms and loving heart. He inspired me to do the same a few years ago, with my friend Ondreah, in the suburban Bucks County, PA town along the Delaware River, called New Hope. There, in a 2 hour period, we estimate that we each shared hugs with 60 people! Biker dudes, grey haired elders, little kids, hand holding couples strolling the streets. A kool-aid pink, spiky haired, multiply body-pierced young woman even stopped a phone call she was on behind the counter of a store in which she was working and said, “Hold on a minute, I need to go hug some customers.”, when Ondreah and I waltzed in with our FREE HUGS sign. By the time we headed home on a windy February day, we were warmed from the inside.

Gay and Kathlyn Hendricks, directors of the Hendricks Institute www.hendricks.com  offer a beautiful primer for how to and how not to…hug.

“We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth”, according to family therapist, Virginia Satir.