Day 62: August 19, 2012 ~ Healing Touch

Day 62: August 19, 2012 ~ Healing Touch

"I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back."

Maya Angelou

"When you touch a body, you touch the whole person, the intellect, the spirit, and the emotions."

~Jane Harrington

I saw a movie this weekend that got me thinking about the importance of touch in our lives. It's the film Hope Springs, about a married couple going through a dry spell in their marriage (more like a prolonged drought). Married 31 years, they have settled into a routine and have lost touch with the ability for intimate connection. In an intensive week-long couples therapy session initiated by the wife, she expresses great sadness at the lack of simple touch any more. She is feeling starved for simple loving touch.

At one point in the evening I happened to notice an elderly couple walking down the street holding hands, and I thought how lovely, that sweet gesture of intimate connection with your beloved. No words are necessary in those moments. There is only love flowing through like an electric current, connecting one to the other heart to heart, soul to soul.

Virginia Satir says, "We need four hugs a day for survival. We need eight hugs a day for maintenance. We need twelve hugs a day for growth." Yikes. I think I may be hug deprived! Physical touch, some say, is not only pleasurable, but it is essential for our survival.

There are many health benefits to healing touch, such as massage. Research has shown that massage helps to balance the immune system, lowers blood pressure, decreases the level of stress hormones, and increases the level of endorphins. The skin is our body's largest organ, and when its sensory receptors are stimulated, the hormone oxytocin (the feel-good hormone) is released, and the stress hormone cortisol is reduced. Regular massage is one of the best things we can do for ourselves to maintain balance and harmony in mind and body.

Physical touch—holding hands, wrapping arms around one another in a warm embrace—is a wonderful way to express affection and love, and it can also bring comfort and healing. The good news is, one doesn't need to visit a massage therapist or be in an intimate relationship to experience and share the wonderful benefits of touch. Hugs with friends, cuddling with a pet, self massage (there are some wonderful Chi Kung techniques for face and scalp massage for example), even soaking in a warm bath will do the trick as well.

Feeling grateful today for the gift of healing touch. Have you hugged someone today? :-)