LavenderCleavageIssue6

LAVENDER CLEAVAGE

AN EDITION FOR THOSE IN LOVE, THOSE FALLING, THOSE BROKEN, OR THOSE WITH ON ONES OWN. FOR ALL PLACES, AT ALL TIMES, BUT ESPECIALLY FOR THIS 14TH OF FEBRUARY

THE SIXTH EDITION OF LAVENDER CLEAVAGE IS RELEASED JUST BEFORE VALENTINE’S DAY. SOME MAY VIEW THIS DATE AS A COMMERCIAL INVENTION FOR PROFIT. OTHER USE IT TO ADORN THEIR LOVED ONES IN GIFTS AND ACTS OF LOVE AND LUST. OTHERS BURY THEIR HEADS AND GET THROUGH IT LIKE ANY OTHER DAY. LOVED OR NOT BY A PARTNER, YOU ARE SURROUNDED BY LOVE ALL AROUND YOU. THE SUN LOVES YOU AND GREETS YOU IN THE MORNING WITH ITS RAYS OF WARMTH. THE MOON LOVES YOU AS IT GENTLY TOUCHES YOUR FACE WITH MOON BEAMS UNTIL YOU DRIFT OFF INTO SLEEP. YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY LOVE YOU, THEY LOVE YOUR SMILE, YOUR HUMOUR, YOUR QUIRKS ENJOY THIS LONGER EDITION, FILLED WITH ART, POEMS, MUSIC SUGGESTIONS AND AN INTRIGUING ARTICLE ON OXYTOCIN. EVE X

lavendercleavagezine@gmail.com

There’s a hormone racing around our bodies at some point pretty much every day, but very few people talk about it or even know about it; oxytocin.

The easiest way to explain oxytocin is to use adrenaline as its opposite. Where adrenaline is known as the fight or flight hormone, so oxytocin is known as the calm and connection hormone.

I first heard about oxytocin in relation to breast feeding. As a midwifery student we learn about oxytocin as the ‘let down’ hormone, it causes the contraction of muscles in the breast which then squeezes the milk down to the baby. However, as well as having a functional effect on mother, oxytocin also helps to build the connection between mother and baby, increasing blood flow to the breast to warm the baby, thus regulating its

FOOD, SEX AND HAPPINESS; A FAVOURITE HORMONE

body temperature, as well as giving a feeling of calm for both mother and baby.

This is often described as the hormone that helps mothers to fall in love with her baby and is part of the reason why breast feeding is encouraged to reduce likelihood of post-natal depression. Oxytocin in the body of a nursing mother also reduces her blood pressure as well as the amount of cortisol, which is a stress hormone. This means that there is less activity in the adrenal glands of a woman during the period when she is breast feeding causing her and her baby to become more calm and peaceful.

However oxytocin isn’t just in the body of nursing women.

As I previously mentioned, oxytocin can be seen as the opposite of adrenaline. Providing vital balance in our life. Injections of oxytocin in rats have been found to

reduce blood pressure, decrease pain, regulate body temperature and digestion, increase growth, healing of wounds, learning ability, and overall calm as well as making them more sociable and nurturing.

So if oxytocin in our bodies is so good for us, how can we increase our amounts of it?

One way to cause a surge of oxytocin is to eat. Have you ever finished a big meal then laid down on the sofa feeling warm, full and happy then before you know it you’re fast asleep? This is because of your calm and connection system and the work of oxytocin in your body making you feel content and relaxed as well as working on your digestion system to help you in absorbing nutrients from your food. In a similar way, we often hold social occasions around food such as parties or even dates, it could

be seen that this is a subconscious decision as when we eat your body releases oxytocin, making us more sociable and thus parties or dates more enjoyable.

An increase in oxytocin on a date can be helpful in more ways than just making you relax. The hormone also helps you to form connections with people, as with between a nursing mother and her baby. Oxytocin is stimulated by touch which can be in the form of a massage or from a loved one like a hug or stroke on the shoulder from a parent or friend. However, this release of calming hormones can be intensified by a partner in what I can only think to describe with the phrase ‘spooning leads to forking’.

If you consider the physical act of sex the high levels of contact and intense oral stimulation in kissing acts almost as a massage and some studies show that

levels of oxytocin increase in both males and females increase and become most concentrated at point of orgasm. This can explain why after sex you feel relaxed and calm and often fall asleep. If you start sex already feeling relaxed then the pleasurable feeling of orgasm could come sooner or be more intense, which could be part of the reason why we as humans tend to lean towards monogamous relationships.

With repeated contact we strengthen our connection with a person, the increase of oxytocin in our bodies THE OXYTOCIN PATH when we see them makes us MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS instantly calm and happy.

2010 This can of course then be seen to be a cause of heartbreak as when we have sex with a person there is a hormonal bond formed with that person, thus meaning if the relationship ends the severing of that bond can be more painful than if a

relationship were to end without it and of curse although there are pills to stop you from getting pregnant, there are no pills to stop you from getting feelings.

Oxytocin is present throughout all of our lives but despite this we often know very little about, the majority of my information for this article has come from the book “The Oxytocin Factor” by Kerstin Uvnas Moberg and I would through recommend reading it if you’re interested to find out more.

WRITTEN BY VERITY GREEN

H O P E L E S S LY R O M A N T I C LOVE SONGS: TOOTHPASTE KISSES - THE MACCABEES LOVER’S SPIT - CHRIS RUBEO HONEYBEE - STEAM POWERED GIRAFFE 1936 - PHOX

B A S I C A L L Y B J O R K S O U N D S : NATALIE - MILK & BONE VENUS AS A BOY - BJORK NEVER KNOW - GHOSTLY KISSES DO YOU GO UP - KHAI ANIMAL URGES - LO-FANG PURE SHORES - ALL SAINTS PORCELAIN - MOBY

W A V Y B E A T S : WHITE DIVERSION -POST MALONE BAD PEDESTALS_DAMN 2 SHANN J DAMN PT 2 - HOUDINNE ALL GOOD - RAHMAAN THEY LOVE ME - DREW HOWARD & BIRTHDAY BOY WINDOW DIPPER - JIB KIDDER YOU AND ME - ZACH SCHIMPF

LOVE IS A PILL TUNES: COSMOS - OSHI JAMAL HIT 1K - JAMAL WOON KOLORS FT. SMINO - MONTE BOOKER BETTER - SWEATER BEATS STATE OF FLUX - OSHI LONG DISTANCE - SAM GELLAITRY SOMETHING CLASSIC - ZUPER

NAIVE ART - FLICKR

L O V E

B Y

E V E R Y O N E

LOVE EXISTS IN ALL FORMS, BORN FROM INSTINCT, IT HAS ALLOWED US TO VENTURE INTO ITS MANY REALMS. LOVE IS A TRANSCENDENCE OF LOGICAL EXPLANATION, WHEN PREVIOUS PROTOCOLS ARE OVERWRITTEN AND WHAT’S LEFT IS WORTH IT. LOVE IS A REFINED PALLET, FOREVER STARVING, IT ENGULFS THE UNIMPORTANT, UNABLE TO SATISFY; IN SEARCH FOR A DIVINE FLAVOUR. LOVE IS A HARDENED EMPATHY REFINED BY TIME, RECOGNIZED BY OTHERS AND FOREVER A GUIDE. LOVE IS PAIN, A STRAIN ON THE BODY AND MIND, A PARADOX, A CURE AND A DOUBLE EDGED SWORD. LOVE IS A DECISION, A SACRIFICE, TO HOLD SOMEONE ABOVE YOURSELF, TO SURRENDER ANY HINDRANCES AND ALL FOR A GREATER GOOD. LOVE IS AN IGNORANT PRIORITY, YOU WOULD WATCH THE WORLD CRUMBLE AROUND YOU, AS LONG AS THEY WERE IN YOUR ARMS. LOVE IS THE HERO, THE INNOCENTLY NAIVE WHO WOULD FACE UNFATHOMABLE ADVERSITY AND STILL HOLD ITS BELIEFS.

POEMS BY JACOB REID

V I D Y A G A M E

R E H A S H

THIS SYSTEMS ANCIENT, THE CONTROLLERS SOME PREHISTORIC MESS SOMEONE THOUGHT WOULD BE “INNOVATIVE” AND “COOL. I PUT IT DOWN YEARS AGO; AND IT HASN’T MOVED SINCE. NOTHING’S CHANGED, IT’S STILL THE SAME NOSTALGIC BEAUTY IT’S ALWAYS BEEN, IT STILL HANDLES LIKE YOUR DREAM RIDE, IT STILL SOUNDS LIKE THE ART YOU WISH YOU COULD UNDERSTAND, AND THE FEW THAT PLAYED IT HAVE GIVEN IT STELLAR REVIEWS. BUT I STILL CAN’T COMPLETE IT. SOMETIMES I LET MYSELF BELIEVE I CAN, THE HYPE IS THERE AND THE TIMING SEEMS PERFECT. IN THE END IT SEEMS FUTILE, BUT I NEVER GIVE UP, RESTART, REPEAT, CONTINUE… GAME OVER. AGAIN AND AGAIN. I BET IT ALL ON THE GAME I THINK I’M GOOD AT, BUT LOSE WHEN ITS RULES RESTRICT ME. AND ALL OF A SUDDEN IT’S NOT A GAME ANYMORE.

LOVE IS FOR ALL THIS VALENTINES DAY I DON’T HAVE ANYONE TO SHARE WITH BUT I HAVE THE WHOLE WORLD. I LOVE YOU ALL. I HOPE YOU HAVE A VERY SPECIAL DAY TREATING A LOVED ONE, A FRIEND OR YOURSELF.W SPREAD THE LOVE, EVE XOXO

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