Page 82 - Natural Health (February 2020)

THE POWER OF
Connection

It’s no secret that we thrive when we ind our tribe, but Dr Rangan
Chatterjee explains how it can make you a more compassionate person too

To understand why connection is so connection has always been critical to our Today, due to the extraordinary rise
crucial to health we first have to realise survival. These wonderful positive emotions of smartphones, even those last scraps
that we’re a very peculiar kind of animal are nature’s way of telling us we’re successful of opportunity to connect have largely
that has evolved to depend upon it in an members of the human species and that disappeared. As a species, we’ve never been less
unusually deep way. As a species, we’re often things are going well. connected. We go to church less, we join clubs
compared to chimpanzees. These great apes But the stresses and strains of modern life less, we gather together in communities less.
might be our closest evolutionary cousins can do great damage to these connections. In This can’t be good for us. Human connection
and behave like us in ways that can seem our deep evolutionary pasts we had plenty of is as important as any vitamin or nutrient.
spookily similar. But we’re unlike them in time to keep our close relationships oiled and When was the last time you struck up a
one extremely important way. Humans are healthy. We’d have spent time walking to the conversation with a stranger? Or asked them
incredibly cooperative. We work together. hunt and catching up with each other on the how their day was going? Or complimented
We rely on each other. We’re designed to way. We’d have chatted to our neighbours as them on their outfit or choice of book?
survive and thrive by being connected to we picked berries and prepared food. Even And this lack of connection is having
one another. This is why we feel joyful and as recently as 10 years ago, we had precious a devastating impact on our closest
safe when we’re getting along well with minutes at the bus stop, in the supermarket relationships. It’s a terribly sad fact that 42
the people we share our lives with. We’re queue or in the doctor’s waiting room when percent of UK marriages currently end in
wired to feel good when we connect because we could chat to others. divorce. While there are many different

82 NATURAL HEALTH