The power of love

Love has many health benefits. But what is the true power of love? How can love benefit the body and mind? Various research has shown a wide variety of health benefits associated with living a happy relationship.

When it comes to sexual relations, No one is aware that sex is a very effective form of exercise. which, in addition, fulfills a cathartic function to release tension and helps maintain and reinforce self-esteem. However, the power of love goes further and relationships have many more health benefits. The benefits depend on various factorsas the type of relationship.

Love is good for the heart

The heart is a visible symbol of the power of love. But When we say that love is good for the heart, we do not mean it figuratively, absolutely.

According to research from the University of Rochester in New York, Maintaining a satisfactory relationship can improve the survival rate after coronary surgery. This study concluded that the effects of life satisfaction as a couple were as important as the identification of traditional risk factors such as obesity and tobacco use.

Another study, carried out at the University of North Carolina (USA), indicates that couples who show affection have healthier reactions to stressful tasks how to speak in public. Heart rate and blood pressure were better in people who held their partner’s hand for ten minutes and enjoyed a 20-second hug afterwards, than those who simply rested before.

The power of love and the mind

Other researchers have found that sex also helps improve mental health. They suggest that, like other forms of physical activity, sex reduces stress levels. The researchers conducted stress tests involving acts such as mental arithmetic out loud and found that people who had sex coped better with stress than participants who had not had sex.

Besides, A person’s sense of well-being can also be improved through sexual relations. An Indiana University Bloomington study of 3,000 people between the ages of 57-85 showed that those who were having sex rated their health much higher than those who were not.

In this studio, It wasn’t just sex that led to greater well-being, but being in a satisfying relationship overall. The researchers found that people who were in close relationships were more likely to say they were in “excellent” or “very good” health, rather than simply “good” or “poor.”

Love is not the same for everyone

Could levels of affection and attachment style determine the health benefits couples receive from their relationship? No one experiences love the same way as others. Each person is attracted to a different type of person and expects something specific from them. That is why the consequences of the power of love for health vary from one person to another.

A study from King’s College London Institute of Psychiatry (United Kingdom) investigated the effects of attachment style on pain relief. Adult attachment style refers to the patterns exhibited by individuals in relationships, based on the way they seek closeness or wish to avoid it.

In general, the presence of a partner in a painful situation would be considered comforting and a relief. However, this was not the case for all research participants. A group of women had moderately painful laser pulses administered to their fingers, while their romantic partner was present and absent.

Women who preferred their partners not to be present actually felt more pain when they were with them. However, Women who did want to have their partner close seem to secrete oxytocin (the love hormone), which would explain why they experienced reduced levels of pain. The lead author believed that oxytocin could be part of a neurobiological mechanism involved in shaping the effects of interacting with others close to the experience of pain.

Oxytocin has been associated with parts of the brain that are involved in emotional, cognitive, and social behaviors. Intimacy, such as sexual intercourse, holding hands, and looking into each other’s eyes, stimulate the release of oxytocin in men and women.

Can we live without love?

It is possible to be happy without having a relationship. A study conducted with nuns has shown that romantic and sexual relationships are not necessary for good health and long life. In fact, from Buddhism, it is stated that love is the desire and aspiration for all beings to be happy and have the causes of happiness. This is a conception quite far from the romantic idea of ​​love that is only limited to the couple. The most surprising thing is that the latest scientific research corroborates the power of Buddhist meditation in this type of love, increasing levels of happiness and self-esteem.

Despite all the health benefits that sex offers, research has also shown that a life of celibacy can also provide a long and healthy life. This study reported that living without a partner can also provide an active lifestyle and maintain strong cognitive function in old age. Therefore, it is important to point out that the love of a couple is another “type” of love. But love is something more universal that extends to all beings. Focusing only on the couple is so reductionist that we limit love and our happiness to finding an ideal partner.

From Buddhism, love, as we see, is much broader, healthier and more enriching. We wish happiness to our partner, our parents, siblings, the entire family, neutral people, strangers and even our worst enemies. Love does not understand conditions. Love does not reduce if we give it, on the contrary, the more love we desire, the more it will grow. So, let’s look further and know that genuine love is that which desires the well-being of all beings!

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