With so many people around the world living their lives in, imposed or self isolation, having to social distance oursleves from others, helping to curb the spread of coronavirus, some of us are starting to feel the effects of going without human touch. Whether it's shaking hands upon meeting someone new, hugging a friend or family member, receiving or giving a supportive pat on the back, a friendly squeeze of a hand, a passionate embrace or a lover's kiss. This physical separation for some people is starting to have an effect on their emotional and mental health, leaving them feeling sad and isolated.

Touch is truly fundamental to human connection, bonding in relationships, and our health and happiness. 

Many studies have shown that when social and emotional touch is welcomed it boosts our mental and physical wellness. It causes our brains to release oxytocin (the bonding hormone), this stimulates the release of our other feel good hormones, dopamine and serotonin, which will assist in reducing the stress hormones cortisol and norepinephrine, making us feel happier and less stressed, being touched can also lower our heart rate and blood pressure, relieve pain, reduce anxiety, lessen depression and boost our immune systems.

Its is normal living in these times with COVID-19 that we struggle with the loss of touch, so what can we do for ourselves and others to "Replace a Hug" MIndfulness activities may help you, Mindfulwalking getting outside noticing in detail whats all around you, try appreciating sounds, sights and smells, noticing other people, even from afar can reduce feelings of isolation and loneliness, a friendly wave or a tip of your hat can be a welcome hello from afar, writing a daily journal may help you to process negative or sad feelings, making a note of the small things that you feel grateful for, talking on the phone with your loved one's whilst looking at their photo can enhance your feelings of connection to them, group chats on zoom or other video calling apps can be a great way to share with other's how everyone is faring during these unusual times, a one to one call can be wonderful to help someone feel seen and heard, writing emails, sending letters or cards out to loved one and friends in the post. While none  of this this can replace our lost hugs and human touch, it does provide us with interactions, giving us connection to others, and allowing us feelings of comfort and happiness for the time being.

" To touch can be to give life" Michelangelo

We are now living in uncertain times, changes occuring on a daily basis and the long term outcome unknown, but change and uncertainty have always been impossible to avoid, change is one of the things that is always constant, this is how most of us experience life, so how do we start to navigate through this time of anxiety, stress, and worry, that we have for ourselves, our famlies, friends and colleagues. Acceptance is a start, to truly accept that we can't plan our way out of what we don't know, and it's ok to have the feelings that you have, give yourself permission to experience the uncertainty of this situation.

Our brain has a natural negativity bias, this means when we are faced with uncertainty, we are most likely to think about all of the things that could or might go wrong, rather than focusing on all of the good things that could possibly happen, Its also natural to feel fear about the future and this fear only adds fuel to our negativity bias. To counter our tendency to focus on the negative, we can write down things that we are grateful for within these uncertain times, try to write maybe three things per day, it can be absolutely anything that comes to mind. Research has shown that when we think about something that we are grateful for, our body releases serotonin this helps to give us a mood boost and dopamine which plays a vital role in the brain's pleasure and rewards system. Intentionally being kind to others helps, getting out of our own heads, our own worries and stress. Caring for other's, texting a friend, asking a neighbour if they are ok, smiling at someone is always a kind thing to do, even in times of correct social distancing, these small postive acts of kindness make us happier as our brain releases oxytocin. 

Having daily tasks "rituals"  things that we do by repitition each day provide us with a sense of control, giving us order during the chaos, it's an efficient way of us relieving the anxiety and stress, we may have to change some of our old rituals for new or different ones during this time of isolation, try involving family members to come up with some new ideas, home exercising as a family, husband and wife indoor date night at the weekend, using technology to keep in virtual contact with loved ones, a to do list, reading the books you've always wished you had time to, Our world is full of constant change our rituals old or new help us to keep consistency and balance.

Having some times during the day away from the constant 24/7 barrage of media coverage, perhaps choose a specific time to tune in and stick to the trusted sources of information, government and NHS websites, this is especially true if you are prone to feeling anxious and your thoughts spiral into overdrive, don't believe everything you think, thoughts are not statements or fact, pause and breathe.

The use of mindfulness practices can be really helpful, to navigate through the uncertainty that change brings into our lives, using the breath meditation, bodyscan, mindful movement, loving kindness practice, becoming aware of how you are, your thoughts and feelings, experience your body sensations, being curious and gentle without trying to fix or change anything that is present, being non judgemental about anything that arises. It will be possible to be exactly as you are in the present moment with practice, this takes sometime and some dedication to achieve, but every new skill takes a little time to learn.