Saturday 23 March 2013

Amazingly, it's good for you!

I received this email from a girlfriend, and thought I would pass it on to all my cyber-pals in Blog Land. 
 
 
In an evening class at Stanford University 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 to create more serotonin - a neurotransmitter that helps combat depression and can create a general feeling of wellbeing. Women share feelings whereas men often form relationships around activities. We share from our souls with our sisters/mothers, 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.
 
So, there it is.  All that giggling, coffee drinking, gossiping and having fun is good for my organs and tissues and all that.  Who woulda guessed?
 
And here I thought I was just shopping for wool with my knitting pals!!  Apparently I was exercising myself into health at the same time.  Well, that's efficient, isn't it?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Doesn't surprise me at all. I thought everyone knew that (except men)!

Curtise said...

Yep, that's very familiar information to me as well! The research about health outcomes for men being better if they are married has been around a long time too. I have always seen my female friendships as central to my well-being, can't imagine life without them. xxxx

Vix said...

I'm not surprised by that, I love spending time with my girlfriends.
As for marriage, we don't believe in it but a happy relationship's got to be a life enhancer. x

Melanie said...

This is indeed good news. "Honey, are you going out to lollygag with your pals?" "No, I'm going out for spiritual exercise." I've also heard a study that found art-making is better for overall health that working out in a gym. Hm.

The Style Crone said...

Thank for passing along this healthy tip and I believe every word. Women friends make the world go round and now I see that they help us live longer too. Nothing like more permission to have fun!

Jean at www.drossintogold.com said...

I could've guessed that, based on how I feel after a good "session" with friends, including my on-line ones, like YOU!! I feel energized, relaxed, happy, and vibrant. Isn't that how they describe someone who's the epitome of health? See, there you go!

Unknown said...

Oh ! I knew that! every time i spend time with the girlfriends i feet so happy! Women interact differently, it's warm, we have indeep conversations, we laugh, it's great!

True as well what Melanie said about art, i know when i did painting i felt great!

Have a good weekend Rosemary and thanks for your email will get back to you soon!

Happy Easter

Ariane xxxx

Anonymous said...

The best combination is getting exercise with your friends. I have made a lot of friends at my all-women gym so it's always nice to go there.

-Laura

No Fear of Fashion said...

I totally agree with him. And I love to spend time with my girlfriends, so I do that a lot.
Shopping with my girlfriends it even better hahaha.