The Power of Touch
I was going over some notes and ideas for an upcoming class recently when something hit me that I hadn’t fully connected before: in one way or another, when I talk with people about massage therapy and the power of touch, or when I’m preparing lesson plans for my students, I almost always relate the conversation or subject matter back to whole-person healing. The importance of massage – of human touch – as a channel for deep healing finds its way into nearly every discussion, every blog, and every conversation I have about the work I have dedicated my life to.
I’ve worked with so many people over the years who’ve been living a compromised version of the life they always dreamed they’d have. For some, it was simply a physical injury that was preventing them from playing with their kids or taking part in a sport or activity that used to bring them joy. For others, it turned out to be an emotional injury, delivered years in the past, that was preventing them from trusting or opening their hearts to people. Still others told me they felt held back from participating fully in life by fears and anxieties they’d never been able to understand, no less overcome… until, for nearly all of these people, they started on a regular program of therapeutic massage.
The deliberate strokes, the focused attention, and the power of touch these clients experienced on the massage table did more than simply relax their tightened muscles and aggravated joints, it also penetrated deep into their hearts, quieting – at least for a while – the fears and ‘unknowing’ that had been paralyzing them. And when those fears were quieted, they were able to experience a sense of peace and connectedness that reminded them there was something more to them – something more to life – than fear and anxiety and pain. By finding the courage to be touched; by reaching deep inside and treating themselves to the simple kindness of a massage; their lives were literally transformed. And for many of my clients, it was the beginning of their journey to healing.
The more I have thought about this and the more I have witnessed this transformation, the more I have come to understand how central – essential even – human touch is to the overall human experience. Science and studies too numerous to count have shown that touch is the first sense that babies develop soon after they’re born. Have you ever given a newborn baby your finger? They instinctively squeeze it, reaching out, even in their earliest hours, for connection. Touch is so deeply a part of being human that it impacts our physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. And I’ve seen it change lives again and again.
The poet Margaret Atwood once said, Touch comes before sight, before speech. It is the first language, and the last, and it always tells the truth.
In the busy, disconnected, electronic world we live in, so many of us have fallen out of touch with our true and authentic selves that we’ve lost the ability to connect with our own hearts, no less our families, friends, and loved ones. We have filled our lives with activities and to do lists, but we’ve completely ignored our need for soul and body-level touch – in real time – with the people who are most important to us. And so we go on hiding (or denying) the fears, jealousies, wrongs, and hurts that define our relationships, shape our reactions and interactions, and slowly harden us against the joyful and authentic life we still, deep down, dream we might one day be able to live.
But in the quiet, safe, and sacred space of a massage studio, all of these hurts and disappointments can be revisited…one at a time. The party we weren’t invited to. The team we didn’t make. The job we didn’t get. The unkind name yelled at us by a frustrated parent, spouse, or friend. The birthday no one remembered. The stutter that a cruel classmate mocked (and the laughter that followed). These things can remain with us for decades, and we live them out in our bodies…in our posture, in the way we sit, and even in the way we sleep.
After working with them for several weeks or months, I have watched so many of my clients recover an almost childlike sense of self, and in so doing, rediscover a pathway back to centered living and the possibility of joy. And as this transformation has occurred, I have literally watched their physical ailments begin to subside. I have seen a softness return to their eyes. And as their sense of worthiness is slowly restored, I have witnessed a beautiful understanding and compassion for themselves – and others – begin to grow. It has been my deepest happiness to accompany these clients on their journeys to healing.
Human Touch has the power to release us from the prisons so many of us have spent our lives decorating and calling home. And this is why when I speak, or teach, or share my passion for massage therapy with others, I so often return to the power of touch and the possibility of healing; and this is why, each day, I am so grateful for the life and career I have chosen.
With Love,
Steph Haddox
Human Touch has the power to release us from the prisons so many of us have spent our lives decorating and calling home.