Is   it ?

Is   IT   in  our  D N A ?

Is there actually a

C A R I N G     C A T A L Y S T

Hormone?

.     .     .and do you possess it?

Oxytocin has long been dubbed as the

“l o v e    h o r m o n e”

that promotes

social bonding

altruism

and being a

C A R I N G      C A T A L Y S T

.       .       .Now there’s actually new research from

Duke University

that suggests this hormone may also support

uhhhhhhhh–ohhhhhhhhhh:

s       p       i       r       i       t       u       a       l       l       y

.       .       .now there’s a billion-dollar proposition,

isn’t  it.     .     .     ?

In the study, men actually reported a greater sense of

s   p   i   r   i   t   u   a   l   i   t   y

shortly after taking oxytocin and even.     .     .

a week later;

Participants who took oxytocin also experienced

more positive emotions during meditation

so states the lead author,

Patty Van Cappellen,

a social psychologist at Duke.        .        .

“Spirituality and meditation have each been linked to health and well-being in previous research,” Van Cappellen states; “We were interested in understanding biological factors that may enhance those spiritual experiences; Oxytocin appears to be part of the way our bodies support spiritual beliefs.     .     .     .”

Kind of makes us

Walking

Talking

Caring

T       E       M       P        L       E       S

Oxytocin

occurs naturally in the body.     .     .

Produced by the hypothalamus,

it acts as a hormone and as a neurotransmitter

affecting many regions of the brain.     .     .

It is stimulated during

s e x

c h i l d b i r t h

b r e a s t f e e d i n g;

Recent Research

has highlighted oxytocin’s possible role in promoting

e m p a t h y

t r u s t

s o c i a l     b o n d i n g

a l t r u i s m

c     a     r     i     n     g;

Researchers administered the hormone to one group and a placebo to another;

Those  who received oxytocin were more likely to say afterwards that spirituality was important in their lives and that life has meaning and purpose.      .      .

Participants who received oxytocin were also more inclined to view themselves as interconnected with other people and living things, giving higher ratings to statements such as

“ALL        LIFE        IS         INTERCONNECTED”

and

“THERE   IS   A   HIGHER   PLANE   OF CONSCIOUSNESS   OR   SPIRITUALITY   THAT   BINDS   ALL  PEOPLE”

Van Cappellen cautioned that the findings should not be
over-generalized.     .     .

“Spirituality is complex and affected by many factors.     .     .However, oxytocin does seem to affect how we perceive the world
and what we believe.     .     .     .”

So.     .     .

Would you ever be accused,

study or not,

of   having  suffered  an  overdosing  of  oxytocin

by how much you

care

bond

love

be selfless

.      .     .maybe it doesn’t much matter what

T  H  E      S T U D Y

suggests so much as what

Y     O      U          D     O.        .        .

Why make it

an  endocrinal dilema

when it can be a

C A R I N G      C A T A L Y S T

p         h         e          n          o          m          e          n          o          n 

?