Invite pals over to chat, watch a movie, play a game, munch pizza or do another activity that helps you bond. It’s not just fun—feeling an emotional connection with girlfriends melts worry and tension fast by raising your body’s level of progesterone, a hormone that induces a relaxed state, University of Michigan researchers found. In their study, pairs of women who were asked to participate in emotionally-bonding activities together had higher levels of progesterone in their blood than female pairs who were asked to do a dull non-emotional task, like filing papers.

[photo: Gwennypics]