12 - Touch can Calm Emotions

In our society, people are out of touch with one of their most important senses–touch. Touch has become forbidden because we were not touched a great deal by our parents when we were children. Now, we have put up barriers against touch. Usually touch has been related to sex in some way and that is why people are reluctant to reach out to others with touch.

mother3We can communicate many things through touch that cannot be conveyed by the spoken word. Touch is our first sense as newborns. Touch expresses many things— relaxation, healing, friendship, and love. When therapeutic touch is used to heal others, energy is transferred from the hands of the practitioner to the patient by moving the hands close to the skin.

When people refrain from touch on a long-term basis, they are isolating themselves from an important avenue of contact with others. We become lonely and addicted to material things instead of what we can do for others. Physical isolation from others can reduce our capacity for growth. If young animals are deprived of touch from their parents, especially their mothers, they tend to become more violent and aggressive.

Many people who yearn for touch hire professional massage therapists to provide that physical contact. Massage reduces two stress hormones. For some people, massage provides relaxation; others feel alive and energized after massage. Massage therapy helps many ailments from migraines to muscle tension, depression, anxiety, and high blood pressure. Some massage therapists say some of their most rewarding contact is with lonely, elderly widows who crave a caring touch from someone.

Touch has played a key role in the miracle recovery of some hospital patients who were seriously ill and sometimes even unconscious. The power of touch linked them to their loved ones. Touch played a major role in returning them to health.