XOXO - Hugs & Kisses

» WhitneyV - We Welcome Hugs!

Hi Heike, great topic! I'm not sure about the Europeans all being huggers though. When we visit my husband's family once a year in France, they just give a couple kisses on the cheeks. No hugs. I have made it a point to give big hugs to show how much I've missed them, and get the reception of a freak (except from the grandparents). I think children need all the love they can get from people they know and trust. How else do we teach them to grow into compassionate and loving adults?

-- posted by WhitneyV

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» biogardener - Whitney is right.

Whitney is right. Customs vary in Europe. The French and the Spanish do tend to express themselves more with kisses than with hugs, even here in Canada. The people from the eastern and south-eastern Europe tend to hug as well as kiss. Like Heike, I grew up in Germany and to me, only a hug surveys the feeling which comes from the heart. I can never feel the same warmth with a kiss which I feel with a hug, but that may be because of my background.

The people in the church which I attend now are of mostly British heritage, and they definitely express themselves with hugs. I wrote this month's article on the subject of touch healing methods. I make the point that it is not so much the method as the feeling which underlies the method which promotes the healing, and I give examples from my life to demonstrate my point.

Healing comes from the heart.

-- posted by biogardener

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» HeikeB - Right you are, my friend!

Ok, Whitney, not ALL Europeans are huggy! I shouldn't generalize, but I usually speak from my own experiences! It took me ages to get used to the two kisses on each cheek I had to go through when I greeted my French friends! Everyone has their own thing, but they all make you "touch"!!

As for my Spanish friends, we all hug! Maybe they have been living in Germany too long? My best friend is Spanish, and when my husband and I went for our twice yearly Paella festival or any other Spanish community function, it was normal not just to hug my friend, but the whole family (there were alot of them !).

-- posted by HeikeB

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