Kissing
A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous - Ingrid Bergman

image by: HWN
HWN Suggests
A Forehead Kiss Is A Kiss On The Soul
A kiss on the forehead is a kiss on the third eye. It is much deeper than most people realize. It is like kissing the person on their soul, in a sense. You see, our foreheads are not often touched by others. Sure we have our hands held and so forth but our foreheads are just different. The third eye for those who do not know is a gate to the inner realm as well as the spaces of what we consider to be higher consciousness. The third eye is a symbol as well as a part of who we are. It is often associated with enlightenment and awareness. This is something located in-between our brows, we can open it and close it and it is truly there even though you cannot see it.Featured
The Positive Health Benefits Of A 6-Second Kiss
“When I think about it, just holding a kiss in my relationship changes the whole dynamic in that moment,” Nina Westbrook tells me over Zoom from London. “Rather than just moving along in your routine, it helps you to boost the positive feelings that you have towards your partner.”
When Did We Start Kissing? The Act Isn’t Universal, but It’s Older Than We Thought
Snogging. Smooching. Canoodling. While such kissing is often depicted as a universal behavior in sexual encounters and romantic relationships around the world, a growing body of anthropological and archaeological evidence tells a different story.
Articles of Interest
A moment on the lips: the dos and don’ts of kissing
How much tongue is too much? Linger or go straight in? Somatic sexologist – and kissing coach – Stella Anna Sonnenbaum gives us a beginner’s guide
Can Kissing Be Hazardous to Your Health?
When you are close to someone you can often be overly comfortable in sharing. This is especially true with kissing. In one kiss, more than 500 germs can be shared between two people. Sharing a kiss can have an impact on your oral health. Here are some of the dangers of kissing.
Depression and Anxiety Might Be Spread Through Kissing
Colds, mono, herpes—fine, we get it. They’re the standard hazards of kissing. But now you may have even more reason to choose who you lock lips with carefully, as scientists say depression and anxiety might be joining the list of transmissible conditions.
Do you love a French kiss? These are the health risks
When was the last time you had a passionate kiss that just blew your mind away? In the heat of the moment, you were probably so much into the kiss that nothing else seemed to even matter. That’s because when you share an incredible kiss with someone, there are certain feel-good hormones, such as dopamine, being released that will make you feel on top of the world and wanting to go back for more! During that euphoric state, I doubt you are thinking of any of the potential communicable diseases that may be transmitted while kissing. It’s likely the last thing on your mind, but it is absolutely imperative to be aware of how kissing may potentially spur on various health problems. That kiss which is seemingly just a blissful moment of intimacy, may actually lead you towards the road of infection.
Earliest evidence of kissing pushed back 1,000 years
Evolutionary anthropologists have suggested that lip kissing evolved to evaluate a potential mate’s suitability, through chemical cues communicated in saliva or breath. Other proposed purposes for kissing include bringing about feelings of attachment and facilitating sexual arousal. Lip kissing is also seen in our closest living relatives, chimpanzees and bonobos. This suggests that the behaviour could be much older than our current earliest evidence in humans.
How to be a better kisser
Read the signs, watch what you do with your tongue – and give it the full 20 seconds. Kissing can be a way to confirm your attraction to someone, but don’t ever feel obliged to kiss someone. If you do want to do it, check they are giving you inviting eye contact or leaning in. If not, respect their intimate space and consider whether you have read the situation wrongly.
Humanity’s First Recorded Kiss Was Earlier Than We Thought
“My upper lip becomes moist, while my lower lip trembles! I shall embrace him, I shall kiss him.” —1900-1595 B.C.E. tablet from Sippar, Mesopotamia; translation by Nathan Wasserman, Akkadian Love Literature of the Third and Second Millennium B.C.E.
I Missed Kissing More Than Anything Else During The Pandemic
After many months deprived of mouth-to-mouth, Emma Firth explores the intoxicating high of a good kiss.
It's OK, you can kiss me
You would have thought that French kissing a snotty lover was a bad idea on many levels. But contrary to widespread belief, it is very hard to catch a cold by exchanging saliva. In 1984, researchers had the unenviable job of observing hundreds of students snogging. Kissing, they concluded, resulted in no transmission of the cold virus. "The virus travels in the mucus from the respiratory system," explains Professor Ron Eccles, director of the Common Cold Centre at Cardiff University. "Unless you have a bad cough, and some of the respiratory mucus has made its way into your saliva, the cold virus will not be transmitted by kissing."
Lips are the most exposed erogenous zone, which makes kissing feel very good
Scientists in the Netherlands have reported that we share about 80m bacteria during a passionate ten-second kiss; a finding that makes puckering up seem cringe-worthy – and downright unsanitary at the start of cold and flu season. But take heart: we’re more likely to get sick by shaking hands throughout the day than through kissing. And the science behind this behaviour reveals that along with all of those germs, we share plenty of benefits with a partner as well.
Not Everybody Likes Kissing
The music swells. On-screen, the two main characters' eyes meet. They lean in, and — slowly! — their lips gently press in a romantic kiss. All the teenage girls in the audience exhale audibly. Such on-screen behavior seems romantic if you were raised in a culture that practices romantic kissing. But that type of culture may not be the majority. In a study published this month in American Anthropologist, researchers propose that romantic kissing isn't something everybody does; in fact, not even half the cultures surveyed lock lips in romance.
Now, a Kiss Isn’t Just a Kiss
But another hypothesis about kissing — that its function is to elevate sexual arousal and ready a couple for coitus — didn’t hold up. While that might be an outcome, researchers did not find sexual arousal to be the primary driver for kissing.
People with coeliac disease should not fear kissing gluten-eaters, say scientists
Small experiment monitored transfer of gluten after couples had kissed with tongues for at least one minute.
Science of Smooching: 5 Secret Health Benefits of Kissing
It busts stress. A recent Lafayette College study found that when you're kissing someone, your body releases oxytocin, a calming chemical; endorphins, which are the feel-good chemicals; and dopamine, which promotes bonding. Aim for a 20-second smooch to get mood-boosting benefits.
Smooch! 7 Science-Backed Ways Kissing Makes You So Much Healthier
Your mom always said that you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you meet your prince ...but whoever said that was a bad thing? From burning calories to offsetting signs of aging, it turns out that kissing has scientifically proven health benefits. So go ahead — pucker up!
The 'Science Of Kissing'
Socializing is found across the animal kingdom, but osculation — or kissing — seems to a human behavior. How did it start and why? The Science of Kissing author Sheril Kirshenbaum discusses the history and biology behind kissing.
The Health Benefits Behind Kissing, How Americans Are Cutting Cals and More!
Turns out lip locking is more than just fun: Kissing actually has some major physical and emotional health bennies -- including burning cals and boosting self-esteem.
The health benefits of kissing revealed!
Kiss, smooch, French kiss… There are as many ways to say it as there are good reasons to do it.
The Kissing Cure
When in the throes of an allergy attack or a skin rash, it may help to pucker up. A Japanese study suggests that kissing reduces allergic responses. Among the 48 subjects, half suffered from eczema (a form of atopic dermatitis), and half had hay fever. All the volunteers kissed their lover or spouse for 30 minutes while listening to romantic music. Two weeks later, they listened to the same music and embraced their partner without kissing. Blood tests revealed that after the kissing phase only, the participants experienced a significant decrease in their levels of immunoglobulin E (IGE), an antibody that the immune system produces in response to allergens, thereby eliciting an allergic reaction.
The origins of kissing may have a lot to do with body hair
It may not be the most romantic thing to say, but kissing accomplishes very little from a biological standpoint. If anything, a smooch’s ability to facilitate the spread of communicable diseases can do more harm than good. But according to a review of humanity’s evolutionary journey, there was a time when kisses potentially signified a more hygienic—and hairier—ape.
The Science of Kissing: What's Going on When You Swap Spit
There's a whole lot happening when you smooch. Kissing is the end to many stories we tell, a passionate moment when two meant-to-be people realize their love — an action driven by romance. We dream of our first and dread our last and, when deemed bad, move along quickly. But why put our mouths together as a way to show affection? Is kissing something humans learned, or an instinct? And does everyone around the world do so?
To Kiss or Not to Kiss, That Is the Question
FOR ME, IT'S one of the biggest expat conundrums: to kiss or not to kiss. I grew up in the Midwest of America, where we were all about giving big bear hugs to friends, family and colleagues. But then I moved to London and I was thrown into the deep end of European kissing culture, which still remains awkward for me as it feels rather false and I have never worked out the unspoken understanding there seems to be between two people of whether the greeting should be a kiss or a handshake.
We might have started kissing to share chewed up food (and other delicious facts about smooching)
Is there anything as swoony as a long kiss? The simple act of pressing your lips to someone else’s can fuel everything from lust to love. But what does science say about your smooch session? Turns out there’s an entire field—philematology—devoted to the study of kissing. Over the years, researchers have devoted plenty of brainpower to figuring out what happens when human lips meet. Here are a few highlights from the existing body of research on why and how we French, snog, neck, smooch, and just plain pucker up...
What Humans Can Learn From A Simple Kiss
At a basic level, kissing is a biohazard. What is love then, if not the willingness to expose yourself to a host of nasty diseases lurking in your partner's mouth? But could kissing also be a tool with a purpose? Psychology graduate student Rafael Wlodarski, from the University of Oxford, wanted to find out. Results from his experiments supported two of the existing hypotheses about why we kiss. First, we kiss to assess potential mates. Second, we kiss the mate we've found to maintain attachment. And while kissing may result in arousal, he says, it's probably not a driving reason why people in romantic relationships kiss each other. Killjoy.
What kissing can really tell you about your partner
Have you ever found somebody appealing, but after kissing them you were no longer interested? That may actually be your genes saying, 'Nope! This one is not the one for you.'
Which cheek and how many? In France and beyond, a kiss isn’t just a kiss
In the English-speaking world, friends and family generally greet each other with a wave, handshake or hug, depending on their degree of intimacy. In France and other countries, however, the kiss is more common – not on the lips, but a symmetrical brush of the cheeks.
Which Hormones Are Released During Kiss? The Science Behind Smooching
Ever wondered why a kiss can make your heart race or give you butterflies in your stomach? It’s not just romance, it’s science. When you kiss someone you’re emotionally or physically connected to, your body releases a mix of powerful hormones that influence how you feel. When you kiss someone, you’re emotionally or physically connected to your body. It releases many powerful hormones like oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin. These feel-good chemicals help deepen emotional bonds, relieve stress, and even improve mental health.
Why Do We Kiss?
According to philematology, or the science for the study of kissing, romance has little to do with it. Love snuggling up to a sweetie and smooching? That's romantic, but—spoiler alert—kissing can be a disgusting and dangerous activity.
Why do we kiss? ‘I am not sure we have anything close to an explanation’
We do it sitting in a tree, under the mistletoe, at midnight to ring in the new year. In fairytales, the act transforms frogs into princes and awakens heroines from enchanted slumber. We make up with it, seal with it, and – in Romeo Montague’s case at least – die with it. Such is the supremacy of the kiss in our culture that we’ve extended the term to describe actions that don’t even involve lip contact – butterfly kisses, say, or the “Eskimo kiss”, a nose rub better known in Inuit culture as kunik. A similar Māori greeting, known as hongi, involves pressing noses together.
Why Is Kissing Important? 16 Health Benefits of Kissing
Kissing someone with your lips is more than just a fun way of showing affection. Kissing can relieve stress and anxiety, encouraging emotional bonding, lower blood pressure, and increase sex drive.
Why We Kiss
When passion takes a grip, a kiss locks two humans together in an exchange of scents, tastes, textures, secrets and emotions. We kiss furtively, lasciviously, gently, shyly, hungrily and exuberantly. We kiss in broad daylight and in the dead of night. We give ceremonial kisses, affectionate kisses, Hollywood air kisses, kisses of death and, at least in fairy tales, kisses that revive princesses.
Resources
3 Surprising Facts About Lips
They can sip, smile, and—on good nights—kiss. But we bet you didn't know the following about your lips: They're made of two things: muscle and the thinnest skin on your body.... . Along with nipples, lips have the highest density of nerve endings of any area on the body...
10 Scientific Benefits of Kissing
Kissing may be the most primal way we express affection with other humans. We kiss babies on their adorable chubby faces, friends on the cheeks, and lovers on the lips to demonstrate of our feelings and desire for closeness. Kissing may be one of the earliest evolutionary mechanisms for social bonding. While there are plenty of obvious pleasures of smooching, there are also some remarkable health benefits, backed by science.
14 Scientific Benefits Of Kissing & Why It's Good For You
So, we all know kissing is fun and probably have an inherent hunch that it bonds us with the person attached to the lips on the other end of the smooch...but why? Here are some of the most incredible, scientifically backed benefits of kissing:
4 Fascinating Facts about Kissing
The Science of Kissing, a new book by scientist Sheril Kirshenbaum, looks at a topic of interest to all of us — the touching of two person's lips. Kirshenbaum examines the evolutionary history of the kiss, as well as the (literal) chemistry of smooching. I asked her to give us a few fun facts about kissing.
5 Health Benefits of Kissing - Pucker Up!
Kissing is an intimate act that can be enjoyed by two people of any gender. It's a way to express affection and love, but it's also a way to get closer physically. From releasing the hormone oxytocin, or increasing blood flow to your lips for a fuller look, kissing has many benefits beyond an expression of love or romance between two people.
5 Things You Should Know Before Kissing Anyone
Because our daily lives have gotten so complicated — our dating lives, in particular — I think these are exactly the kinds of tips we need to hear. Or, at least, I do.
8 Surprising Health Benefits of Kissing You Never Knew Existed
The prospect of cooties didn’t bother me in kindergarten when I pinned down my crush at recess and laid one on him (though I was a little disappointed that he cried and stormed off toward the water fountain). Fortunately my kissing abilities and understanding of consent have both improved since then, and it turns out that even if cooties are real, they might actually be good for your health.

