Healing Touch

The way people do (or don't) touch each other is a very interesting thing to watch!

I have been doing a little self observation lately, and noticing that there are some people I touch a lot when I'm around them, and some people I don't touch harldly at all. I wonder if that has more to do with me and the way I react to people (i.e. I just want to touch some people more, prrrr), or with other people and the sort of body language they send (i.e., if you don't touch me, I won't touch you), or if it's some combination thereof. It's really been very variable for me throughout my life - I think some of it depends on cultural environment (i.e. when in Asia, much less hugging!), some is personal (i.e. when feeling insecure about overweightness, as I did when I put on my sophomore 25, yikes, I touched people less and consequently was touched less), and some is interpersonal (i.e. when around dancers and taiko drummers, physical people, I give and receive a lot more backrubs, oh yeah).

Some people are just body people. They are comfortable in their own skin, and they are comfortable with your skin, and so they touch you more. I sort of wish I weren't so variable, I wish I were more of a consistent body person.

That is because, I really do believe in the healing powers of touch. Genuinely loving or caring touch doesn't just stop at the skin - there is some exchange of energies between people, some love conveyed, some electricity generated. It's very powerful.

In the deepest darkest hole of my teenage angst, I had the opportunity to work with an energetic healer, who would lay me on a table and literally move energy blockages from my chakras while barely touching me. She would talk to me as she worked, and I would see colors and images and feel upwellings of emotion. It was pretty intense, and weird, and though I still don't really understand what happened, I think I am still learning from it. I think the notion not only of touch, but of energy exchange between people is something I am still very sensitive to, and strive to use better in my everyday life.

Are you a toucher? Are you too touchy? Do you think most other people are too touchy? What is too much, and what do you think determines where you draw the line?