Massage Mellows Marriage

I'm trying to catch up with the flood of oxytocin news in the past few months. This USA Today article discusses research at Brigham Young University and the University of Utah.

The study of young married couples began with some training on ways to increase closeness, but mostly, it studied the young-marrieds in their natural habitats.

Twenty couples, all married at least six months, participated in a four-week intervention that promoted emotional and physical closeness. They were brought into the lab for training and testing, but the bulk of their actions were at home, including a 30-minute massage (neck, shoulder or forehead) three times a week.

The study found that massage and other kinds of loving touch reduced blood pressure and cortisol, especially among men, while raising oxytocin levels. At last, scientific proof that it's good to be nice to your spouse.