A question I often get from clients is “How is it that you can barely touch my body and I feel better?” … What many people are discovering and what has been the joy of my practice is that gentle hands-on light touch can provide significant relief of tension, stress, and discomfort.
A question I often get from clients is “How is it that you can barely touch my body and I feel better?” We are so used to the larger manipulation of massage therapy or physical therapy where we can feel the movement of tissue on a large scale. What many people are discovering and what has been the joy of my practice is that gentle hands-on light touch can provide significant relief of tension, stress, and discomfort.
There are several viewpoints I want to approach this topic from to create a whole picture of how light touch therapy creates changes in our bodies. I will address the basic interconnectedness of humans to each other and how proximity and touch affects us. In this vein, I will also discuss how specific kinds of touch produce positive results. I will discuss the nature of stagnation as the creator of most pain/discomfort/illness and how supportive attention to areas of stagnation create change.
Attunement
We are built by nature to attune to each other.
As mammals, we are built by nature to attune to each other. We do this to grow, to learn, to stay safe and to have fun. Touch is one of the primary ways we do this. It’s not magic. It’s not woo-woo. It’s not outside energy pouring in from a higher power. It is the basic mechanism of human relationship and body proximity at work. (Article for reference: Neuroscience and entrainment)
Safety
Touch is important, but it can’t be just any kind of touch. It needs to be perceived as helpful and/or safe.
My training and experience allow me to create a sense of connection that communicates safety in the present moment. In Craniosacral Therapy, we are encouraged to approach our clients with “unconditional positive regard.” In Somatic Experiencing, we learn to recognize body-based cues for overwhelm as well as cues for ease. In Transforming Touch, we invite the possibility of regulation—which means appropriate body responses to present moment experiences. In all of this, the basic goal is one of creating safety and ease.
Almost all gain in vitality is done as part of a relationship between you and me. If you don’t feel safe, your body won’t begin that process.
Stagnation to Movement
Touch brings physiological awareness to the areas that are being touched. We have many kinds of sensory neurons in our bodies. On our skin we have four kinds that register different things at varying sensitivities. (Read more here: Sensory Neurons of Touch) This physiological awareness increases blood flow. Increased blood flow results in more oxygen, more exchange of fluids and more waste products removed. Stagnated fluids and waste products lead to pain and stiffness in our bodies. The longer touch remains in a specific area, the longer the process of exchange and renewal continues. This is one of the primary ways our bodies heal.
Shift
I co-create a space with you of safety and resonance. You respond systemically with ease that allows your cells, muscles, mind and being to move toward a place of healing. What is this ease? You can feel it in a sigh, a pleasant sinking into your skin and bones, a slower pace of taking in the place you find yourself.
If you are not accustomed to being present to these shifts, I can point them out to you. In sessions, I’ll notice a shift and ask about your experience. In this way you become attuned to your healing self in new ways. Your new understanding and awareness guides you to your desired level of well-being. (Blog posts for reference: Book Review: The Brain’s Way of Healing , The Responsibility of Being Present )
Comfort
Light touch bodywork that is attuned and safe, provides interpersonal warmth that decreases experiences of pain and isolation. In general, the physical presence of other people who pay attention to your needs benefits your body. When you are in the presence of people who create a sense of ease or connection, that initiates the relaxation response, creating flow. This counteracts stagnation, pain, and discomfort. (Article for reference: Stress in Babies.)
What it boils down to
So from my experience and my research, what it boils down to is SAFETY and ATTENTION.
Safety allows for the body states that allow healing—states such as ease, comfort, relaxation, and flow.
Attention gives your body the cues for where to send its resources—resources such as blood, lymph, other fluids, and neural activation.
To sum it up, light touch bodywork creates an environment of safety and invites attention that enhances your body’s self-corrective healing ability. At the root level, this is cellular movement that clears stagnation that is causing your discomfort.
It may seem amazing and impossible and weird and yet it is a most natural occurrence born from basic human needs of safety, attunement, and care. The combination of attention and safety creates circumstances in which our systems thrive. In this environment, our bodies connect with their inherent ability to self-correct.
I offer in-person and remote session that help regulate your nervous system.
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