For most of us, loving and being loved makes a real difference to how we feel. You may or may not know that the absence of love has been proven to impact our very survival.

In researching love, I came across many studies that demonstrate this. Eg., Rennee Spitz studied babies isolated from their mothers. Although hygiene in these care homes was impeccable and the babies were fed well and their nappies were changed as needed, they were not held or loved. The absence of love meant a huge number of these babies died: The mortality rate was as high as 90%. A host of other studies showed the same thing.

Patients of doctors with a good bedside manner often do better than patients of the clinical, seemingly uncaring doctors, even if both groups prescribe the same medication.

What of us as adults? Do we loose our need for love? Do we need to be filled with regular doses of love? How do we know if we don't have enough love? As examples, if we bend over backwards to be helpful to others, or we don't feel so great about ourselves, or we regularly seek out acknowledgment from others, these are clues that we could benefit from some more love.

The importance of love and the human need for love is not to be underestimated. As early as 1943, Maslow introduced his hierarchy of needs. He told us: Once our needs for food, water and shelter have been met, we need to feel loved. We need to satisfy our need for love before we can build our self-esteem and really feel that we are achieving and gain fulfillment.

When our needs go unmet, we appear "needy" (because we are "needy) and this pushes away relationships, friendships and work opportunities Conversely, when our needs are met, our lives are filled with joy, pleasure, fulfillment and all manner of good things, and we naturally attract relationships, friendships and clients.

Whilst we have many needs, love is at the core, as it is so intrinsic to not only how we feel but to our very survival. In the same way we need food and water regularly, we too need love. Regular doses of love are important for everyone, but particularly for those in current stressful periods in their life, working too hard, or experiencing a life change.

Some time ago, I thought wouldn't it be good, if there was a "class" or "workshop" that we could go to where we could get a regular doses of love (and we could also meet our other core needs). Taking it to its logical conclusion, "neediness" would become things of the past. We would attract positive personal and professional relationships into our lives, and above all our lives would be filled with joy, pleasure, love and fulfillment in its various forms.

As nothing quite like that existed, I decided to invent something, and so The Inner Spa, a feel-good workshop programme that helps us meet our core needs through replenishing mind, body and spirit came into being... If you are curious to find out more, I would like to invite you to an afternoon retreat at the Special Yoga Centre, London, England (which is a charity to support children with special needs) on Sunday 14th March and/or a weekend retreat at Oxon Hoath, Kent, England on 5th to 7th March. Contact and

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