Good Reasons to Pucker Up for That Kiss on New Year’s Eve

A couple shares a kiss at midnight to celebrate the New Year

It is a well-known custom for lovers to usher in the new year with a kiss at the stroke of midnight. Many believe it sets the tone for a good relationship in the year ahead, and are even superstitious that it would be bad luck not to do so. While the tradition’s exact origins are not fully known, smooching when the clock strikes twelve has been part of American pop culture for over a century. And that annual peck at the party packs a healthy punch.

The practice of lip kissing grew out of multiple ancient societies like Mesopotamia and Egypt according to a new study in Science Journal. As for why or when a kiss became a key celebratory marker of the new year, there are varied theories behind its rising popularity in the United States. Reader’s Digest reports its origin may be a Viking tradition born out of winter festivals in Scotland and Rome. But literary references suggest the tradition may go back as far as the Middle Ages.

Kissing can positively impact our health.

Perhaps the most favorable folklore behind the kiss at midnight originates in the mid-19th century. German immigrants would throw lavish parties in New York City to celebrate the new year. Time Magazine highlighted those iconic festivities as they were first reported by the New York Times in January 1863: “As the clocks ring out the hour of midnight, all this festivity pauses for a moment, to listen, and as the last stroke dies into silence, all big and little, old and young, male and female, push into each other’s arms, and hearty kisses go round like rolls of labial musketry, with the exclamation “Prost’s Neujahr!” (Hail the New-Year!).”

Not only does this kiss marking the new year spur potential luck but it may also be good for us. Our lips have more nerve endings than any other part of the body, making them one of the most highly sensitive areas for stimulation. A kiss triggers the brain to release neurotransmitters like dopamine, oxytocin and serotonin, which can boost our mood and positively impact mental wellbeing. These hormones can ultimately reduce the stress response in the brain, helping us to breathe better, sleep deeper and even relieve feelings of depression or anxiety. And Heathline says kissing could even reduce blood pressure, boost immunity and burn calories.

But the benefits that arise from a kiss are not limited to lovers. Andrea Demirjian, author of “Kissing: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about One of Life’s Sweetest Pleasures,” tells readers of USA Today that kissing is as essential to life as breathing. She says, “Through our kissing, both in giving and receiving, we are communicating our care and love and affection for people, whether it is a romantic affection or whether it’s a filial affection for a family member or friend.”

However, Hollywood movies like “When Harry Met Sally” that romanticize a kiss on New Year’s Eve (see film clip above) might make you want to seek out someone special at midnight. Assuming you are feeling well and get consent, go for it. But if you ultimately find yourself alone as the new year rolls in, snuggle up with a pet or wrap your arms around yourself for a long embrace. Those too will boost those feel-good hormones in the brain to make the coming year seem a little brighter.