Natural Born Huggers

Day 10:  9 Mindful Hugs

Today I taught Nia at a birthday party for an 8 year old girl and 10 of her friends.  Typically, my target audience consists of women ages 18+.  While I have taught a few classes for children in the past, teaching children is not my favorite thing to do.  But when a friend calls and asks if you will do something, it's hard for me to say no, particularly if it is a good friend.  Thus I ended up at the party with a bunch of screaming kids running around.

Thankfully, my friend and the child's parents were there to help with the crowd control so that I could explain what we were about to do.  I planned 30 minutes of music and we danced.  I made it through the set, but it was very clear that I will not be agreeing to do this anytime soon (more like never again).

As the party progressed to gift time, I noticed that the children were going up to each other and hugging.  As they hugged, they verbally expressed their gratitude for one another.  This completely changed my perspective of the event.  The children morphed before my eyes from screaming demons to compassionate, loving creatures.

At the end of the party, as everyone was leaving, the children once again began to hug each other.  They also hugged the parents and thanked them for inviting them to the party.  What I didn't expect was for the children to hug me!  Several of the children hugged me and thanked me leading the dance class.

Thinking back to my childhood, I don't remember being so open with my affection toward my family, let alone my friends.  Perhaps that is why I find hugging so difficult in adulthood.  This experiment is teaching me so much about myself and others.  As the days progress, I am becoming less hesitant with hugging.  While it's still not my favorite thing to do, it's growing on me.