At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.
Plato
We are wired for connection. Touch is a primal and necessary requirement for human life. From the moment we leave the womb, we cannot survive without touch. Skin-to-skin contact has been shown to help regulate newborns’ temperature, heart rate, and breathing, and decrease crying. But our need for touch doesn’t stop there. We are social creatures that are best able to regulate when we have regular physical contact with other people and animals.
Hugging and other forms of nonsexual touching cause your brain to release oxytocin, known as the “bonding hormone.” This stimulates the release of other feel-good hormones, such as dopamine and serotonin, while reducing stress hormones, such as cortisol and norepinephrine. These neurochemical changes make you feel happier and less stressed. Research suggests that being touched can also lower your heart rate and blood pressure, lessen depression and anxiety, boost your immune system, and relieve pain. Not only do these simple acts of touch like a caress of the arm or a pat on the back help us regulate our bodies, but they are also our primary language of compassion and a primary means for spreading compassion. Touch builds up cooperative relationships, signals safety and trust, and it soothes.
As adults, it can be challenging to receive the touch we need. This is where massage can radically change your life.
In addition to the physical benefits of improved circulation, decreased muscle stiffness and pain, better sleep, and strengthened immune response, massage is also beneficial for mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, postpartum mood, and the loneliness of grief.
Touch therapy sessions with me are about integrating all of these things. Your humanity is held with gentleness. Your pain is witnessed and cared for. Your body can ease into a state of safety and deep calm.
Come and receive the touch you need. Be held.