This post is for my sister... who has always hugged trees... and now having just moved to Thailand can't be so easily reached for a hug.

I had the pleasure of meeting and talking to this gentle inspiring soul last weekend at Raw Fest.

A monk for 15 years and disrobed in April this year, Amarantho decided to undertake this video as a social experiment on perception in his words extracted from this original blog post:

"I felt these waves of kindness and joy, of care and concern, of courage and fear. I could not judge the people, large/small, fat/thin, black/white, Australian/foreign, Aboriginal. As I settled into my body there was profound peace of not judging, of being supported by friends and the unconditional love I felt and I wanted to express.

Some people came with such concern, parents invited their children and then the mothers. Many young people came, it made me reflect on what spaces are we providing for touch, for care, for unconditional love, to be able to meet in this way. Do we have to go to such an extreme to show we care for one another?

My body tingled and there was an intensity I had not felt maybe for my entire life of being fully in the human realm; of being connected with another."

We don't hug each other enough, I know I don't, and that needs to change.

We all crave a deep, compassionate human connection, yet for many we don't realise what is we most need, or if we do we don't feel able to ask.

I'd love to know how you felt watching this video. But I also ask that you look around you right now, find someone to hug and create that connection. The connection we all need.

P.s the power of a hug has also been scientifically proven. Psychotherapist Virginia Satir famously said:

"We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth.

If I could reach out and hug you all right now I would.

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