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A Happy Marriage Nurtures The Body And The Soul

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Tis the season to celebrate romance and recent studies have confirmed that the state of our physical health is determined, in part, by the quality of our relationships, especially marriage. Statistics show that happily married people live longer, are healthier, have fewer heart attacks and other diseases, have fewer problems with alcohol, behave in less risky ways and have more satisfying sex lives. Married people are more likely to wear seat belts, be active, eat breakfast and not smoke. In other words, when you decide to marry someone you are putting them in a position to significantly affect your mental and physical health and longevity.

When you consider the body-soul connection, it makes perfect sense that our partners affect our health. Our bodies, minds and souls work together to make us who we are. People who are married usually have an emotional connection that gives them physical and mental strength. Maintaining physical contact with a spouse while under stress has been shown to lower blood pressure and heart rate and increase the hormone oxytocin, which prevents the body’s stress responses from negatively influencing the body’s cardiovascular and endocrine systems.

Mortality rates are 50 percent higher for unmarried women and a whopping 90 percent higher for unmarried men than they are for married women and men. Married surgical patients are less likely to die than the unmarried. Researchers don’t know if this is because healthier people get married or because marriage helps them stay healthier.

According to the Centers For Disease Control, married men are half as likely to commit suicide as single men, and one third as likely as divorced men. Married people report lower levels of depression and distress, and 40% say they are very happy with their lives, compared to about 25% in single people. As married partners reach middle age, it appears that the effects of marriage on adult health become even more powerful. Growing older increases the psychological importance of having and engaging in intimate relationships.

The happiest (and healthiest) couples are best friends who share lives and are compatible in interests and in values. One of the great joys of marriage is the time that you, as a couple, spend laughing together and enjoying your sense of humor. As one holistic healer put it: “When couples laugh together they affirm each other’s souls. Married people with inside jokes or pet names tend to have stronger ties.” Laughter reduces the level of stress hormones like cortisol, epinephrine (adrenaline) and dopamine. All this leads to a stronger immune system, as well as fewer physical effects of stress.

Take a few minutes every day to really connect with your spouse in a meaningful way. By nurturing your marriage you are actually nurturing your personal health and setting yourself up for a long and happy life.