In 2004 I had eye surgery, please imagine if you will being strapped onto a table so you are unable to move, you are fully awake your eye is taped open and you see a large machine over your head. To say the least I was a little stressed. My body was tense my heart rate was high and my breathing was shallow and rapid. In my mind I was wondering why am I so stressed this is the second time I am doing this I know I will be ok. My body wanted nothing to do with my rational mind chatter. As I lay there unable to move and as the surgery was about to begin a nurse gently held my hand. No words were spoken, just a loving touch that said you will be ok, and you are in good hands. My whole body relaxed, my breathing went back to normal my pulse slowed and the surgery was over before I knew it. I unfortunately never really met that nurse or was able to share with her how much she helped me through that surgery. I do hope that she knows that she positively touched my life and through her action I was able to feel first hand how powerful love expressed through touch really is.

Touch is an important part of our daily lives. The question is, are you getting enough of it? As a child develops, touch is a major part of his/her life. Being held, caressed, breast-fed, bathed, the list can go on and on. The important thing is that touch is a part of our lives from when we are born. Problems arise when touch is not loving and/or nonexistent. That is when touch deprivation affects peoples’ soul and walls are created. To compensate for this people will either withdrawal from others and shy away from touch (often the case in non-loving touch experiences) or seek touch in any way possible (nonexistent touch) which then leads to inappropriate touch and some awkward situations. Neither, withdrawing from touch or over touching, are very positive ways of giving or receiving touch.

To help bring this back into balance lets look at how positive loving touch affects our lives. As a child I was raised in a very loving family. Yes, we had our fights and I was raised when spanking was an appropriate method for disciplining a child. So I have a few stories of non-loving touch as well. But when I look back on my child hood and think of being touched I remember being held by my mother when I needed comforting, having my back scratched by my Grandmother while lying on the couch and being massaged by my father when I was injured or hurt. These times of loving touch are the memories I choose to hold close to my heart. As we can create these and other memories of loving touch for our children imagine the benefits they will receive and the beauty that will spread throughout the world. Loving touch is a universal language that penetrates without the spoken word. When love is shared it spreads and grows.

To share this love we must starts with loving ourselves, when we can truly love ourselves then our natural way of being is to love others. Begin with loving self talk. This will create a positive self image that will attract others to you and when they arrive great them with a loving hug. This will allow you to express your self in a loving way that will create a magical loving exchange that words cannot express. Hold your partners hand. Genteelly rub your partners or loved ones shoulders. These are natural ways of sharing and expressing love that are noninvasive or sexual in nature. Understanding that we express more though touch and our bodies then words will ever convey is key to understanding the power loving touch will have in your life.