People who hold hands with someone they care about during a physically painful experience feel less pain.

A new study examined whether people would feel less social pain if they held their partner’s hand.

People who held their partner’s hand while remembering upsetting memories felt less distress a week later.

It’s strange how so many of the deeply powerful, meaningful, lovely moments in life masquerade as ordinary ones. Thankfully, if we hold that in mind and look close enough, we can grab hold of them. Now you might be thinking, “C’mon, is the usual really all that noteworthy?” I get it—fair point. A room you always walk through in your apartment or home probably doesn’t seem all that remarkable, right? Now imagine it’s the absolute last time you’ll ever walk through that room because you’re moving. Chances are, that room just got a specialness promotion, at least a little bit.

There are other examples, like holding a romantic partner’s hand. How many times have you held hands with a partner and did it without thinking about the significance of what you were doing,........

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