So I went to that Ladies Who Launch Live event on Saturday — wow, was that ever stimulating and inspiring! All these smart, curious, creative women buzzing with energy and ideas to launch. I’m reading the book, I’m all signed up for September’s incubator group, can’t wait!

One of the speakers was the hilarious author, speaker, and syndicated humor columnist Lisa Earle McLeod, whose new book is “Finding Grace When You Can’t Even Find Clean Underwear.” She had us all nodding in recognition and howling with laughter. One thing she talked about that really struck me was about the hormone oxytocin.

Oxytocin is a bonding, nurturing, calming, and all-around “feel-good”hormone, especially for women. Lisa talked about how oxytocin is released under three conditions: childbirth, nursing, and being in the presence of female friends.

It seems that our natural tendency to reach out and spend time with our girlfriends has a real physiological basis to it!

I was so intrigued that I researched this a little more on the internet. A landmark UCLA study published in 2000 looked at how women responded to stress, and suggested a “tend-and-befriend” response (instead of, or in addition to, the “fight-or-flight” response we’ve all heard about — and for which the research was all done on males!). It seems that women respond to stress with the release of oxytocin, which stimulates us to care for our young and to reach out to other females. Then when we are in the presence of other nuturing females, our oxytocin levels rise even more, stress is reduced, and we feel calmer.

So pick up the phone, call a girlfriend, get together for coffee, a walk (in the middle of typing this — I swear this is true — my BFF Shirley called and we scheduled a picnic and hike at the Arboretum tomorrow!) … or better yet, plan a big city getaway!

You know when you come back you’ll be calmer, happier, and ready to cope with life. The science is behind you on this one!

Filed under: General, Ladies Who Launch, Other stuff in my life

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