Spirit of Bonhomie - Day Thirteen
The power of touch
There is a fascinating connection between neuroscience and our relationship with human touch:
The Richness of Human Touch:
Human touch is a fundamental aspect of our sensory experience. It goes beyond mere physical contact—it carries emotional, social, and psychological significance.
Our skin, the largest organ, is densely packed with specialized receptors that respond to touch, pressure, temperature, and pain.
Mechanoreceptors and Their Types:
Mechanoreceptors are specialized nerve endings that detect mechanical stimuli.
They come in various types:
Pacinian Corpuscles: These respond to deep pressure and vibration.
Meissner’s Corpuscles: These detect light touch and changes in texture.
Merkel Discs: These sense sustained pressure and texture.
Ruffini Endings: These respond to skin stretch and joint movement.
Free Nerve Endings: These are distributed throughout the skin and detect pain and temperature.
The Brain’s Response to Touch:
When someone touches you, a cascade of neural events occurs:
Peripheral Nerves: Nerve fibers transmit signals from the skin to the spinal cord.
Spinal Cord: The information ascends to the brain via the spinal cord.
Somatosensory Cortex: This region in the parietal lobe processes touch sensations.
Emotional Centers: The limbic system, including the amygdala, processes emotional aspects of touch.
Oxytocin Release: Positive touch triggers the release of oxytocin, promoting bonding and trust.
The Power of Affectionate Touch:
Affectionate touch has profound effects:
Stress Reduction: It lowers cortisol levels and promotes relaxation.
Pain Relief: Gentle touch activates endorphins, our natural painkillers.
Social Bonding: Touch fosters social connections and attachment.
Emotional Communication: A hug, a pat on the back, or holding hands convey emotions without words.
The Importance of Skin-to-Skin Contact:
Skin-to-skin contact between parents and infants is crucial for healthy development.
It regulates body temperature, promotes breastfeeding, and enhances emotional bonding.
This continues well after birth.
Human touch is a multisensory experience that engages our brains, emotions, and social bonds. Whether it’s a handshake, a hug, or a gentle stroke, touch is a powerful language of connection. 🤝🧠🌟
We need to regain the power of touch. It is seemingly being lost to virtual busyness.
Today I want you to count the ways that you actively seek out human touch, including all the ways that you connect with yourself.
It is really important.
I cannot emphasise that enough.
Trauma victims cannot recover until they become familiar with and befriend the sensations in their bodies. Being frightened means that you live in a body that is always on guard. Angry people live in angry bodies. The bodies of child-abuse victims are tense and defensive until they find a way to relax and feel safe. In order to change, people need to become aware of their sensations and the way that their bodies interact with the world around them. Physical self-awareness is the first step in releasing the tyranny of the past.
In my practice I begin the process by helping my patients to first notice and then describe the feelings in their bodies—not emotions such as anger or anxiety or fear but the physical sensations beneath the emotions: pressure, heat, muscular tension, tingling, caving in, feeling hollow, and so on. I also work on identifying the sensations associated with relaxation or pleasure. I help them become aware of their breath, their gestures and movements.
All too often, however, drugs such as Abilify, Zyprexa, and Seroquel, are prescribed instead of teaching people the skills to deal with such distressing physical reactions. Of course, medications only blunt sensations and do nothing to resolve them or transform them from toxic agents into allies.
The mind needs to be reeducated to feel physical sensations, and the body needs to be helped to tolerate and enjoy the comforts of touch. Individuals who lack emotional awareness are able, with practice, to connect their physical sensations to psychological events. Then they can slowly reconnect with themselves - Bessel Van Der Kolk
We are living in a time where all of us have been touched by trauma one way or another. We need to realise that the antedote to this is human touch.
I strongly believe that humans are being encouraged to isolate, to be ‘independent’, to be alone as that is easier to control, to medicalise and to de-human.
Seek out the small touches that will soothe your soul, give out the human touch hat will heal the souls of others.
That is your job today.
It is an absolute human certainty that no one can know his own beauty or perceive a sense of his own worth until it has been reflected back to him in the mirror of another loving, caring human being.
I've been to two countries- I wont name them - where touch, especially kissing - is just not a thing. I think just touching or being touched by your significant other is important. How do people - in countries where this is not the norm- manage their feelings? Do they just get used to it?