Touching your partners chest could help relieve stress faster than meditation

There’s no end to the list of stress-busting solutions: better time management, physical activity, breathing right, meditation, or simply talking things out with a therapist or a friend. A Swedish university just found another method to add to the list which was published on the site Swigg.

The power of touch

This technique would be kneading a chest, which releases oxytocin (the pleasure hormone that relieves stress and depression) and can even help preventbreast cancer. According to the study published by the university, this practice works just as well for men as it does for women.

Scientists studied around 100 men between 20 and 50 years old. The selected individuals then were made to look at and then touch a chest while experiencing stress. The study showed that touching reduced stress levels by 70%. Chest size also played a role—apparently, larger chests lowered stress more rapidly.

A chest might be more effective than breathing exercises

To prove this unexpected technique’s anti-stress power, the researchers separated the selected men into two groups. The first group touched a chest for 5 minutes, while the second did breathing exercises to relax. The first group’s participants showed lower levels of stress hormones than the first group’s at the end of the study. It seems that this is a completely natural and effective if surprising, stress-relieving method—and one that might put a smile on the faces of couples not too keen on trying out yoga!

Check out the video above for more on the study!