By Advaita Stoian

Everyone uses the sense of touch, but how many are aware of the magical effects of this simple gesture upon our being, as well as the potential that it represents, in our connection to the world

We will begin by explaining what it means to be touched and the significance and importance of being touched. We will also be able to see from this perspective some of the common mistakes regarding ‘touch’.

The touch has always been a source of fascination for the human being, even in the past where the initiation from a master to the disciple was transmitted through a touch in different forms. In the couple relationship the initiation of the relationship is symbolized by the first kiss or the first touch. As we can see the touch has a very powerful significance.The famous touch that is depicted in the painting by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel, is the image where God the Father gives spirit or Life to the first man ‘Adam’ by the touch. This scene symbolizes the way in which touching can be the transmitter of the spirit. In all spiritual traditions touch was regarded as being special, being the carrier of magic powers. In magic work it is said that a spell can be transmitted by the touch of the magic wand and healing can be also performed by touching the ill parts of the patient with the curing hands. In fact many healing systems use touch; either in the form of massage or at least the touch of the patients body (we find this in reiki, acupressure, reflexology and so on).

Recent scientific discoveries confirm what spiritual systems have been stating for a long time

Touch is the expression of profound communication that transmits signals which are able to trigger neuro-reactions such as oxytocin production, oxytocin the hormone that is deeply related to a state of intimacy, love, tenderness and ultimately a state of profound happiness. From a certain perspective (considering the initiate elements related to the touch as well as the recent confirmations from science) we can say that happiness can be transmitted through a touch. One very good example is found in lovemaking with sexual continence (perfect control over the sexual energy), where we can see that it is not only the erotic arousal and penetration which provides pleasure, but it is the magic effect of the touch full of love and transfiguration that mysteriously fulfills the lover, and creates the soul to soul communication channel.

When touch in lovemaking is more ‘genitally orientated’, (for stimulating mostly the erotic arousal) than ‘generally orientated’…

The quality of the soul to soul transmission is tremendously limited in those intimate moments. It has been observed that most of the spectacular therapeutic effects of love making (when practicing perfectly sexual continence) are a result of the soft and tender touches the lovers give to one another, on the background of their polar attraction, of their sexuality. Therefore we can say that ‘touch’ empowered by sexual attraction can produce tremendous therapeutic effects.

“ It is highly probable that the frantic interest in sexuality that characterises our Western culture it is not only a search for the mere sexuality, but rather a search to fulfil the need for touch”. Antony Montagu

It has been noticed that, if the intimate tender and soft touch is omitted in lovemaking with sexual continence, the healing processes of curing diseases is drastically reduced, the interaction will become cold and somehow isolated despite the erotic intimacy that is present. However it was also observed that when there is abundance of touch in lovemaking, then it is more likely to bring psychic and mental balance and fulfillment. When also using different lovemaking positions (ones that are revealed in tantra, together with their wonderful effects upon the lovers) the intimacy is effective even in healing different diseases.
It can be said from this perspective that making love is not enough for facilitating healing effects in the being or in the couple, the catalysis of the therapeutic effect is the touch and the caress that is part of the erotic interaction and not only the erotic or genital touch. This concept of ‘personal space’ creates barriers between people

“Touch is a basic behavioural need and the absence of it causes abnormal behaviour and physical development.” Antony Montagu.

Nowadays people speak about needing their ‘personal space’,and they do all kinds of things to ensure their ‘secure’ safe space is maintained, and if that space barrier should be crossed the defence mechanisms are automatically activated. What happened to the friendly touch on the shoulder when making business decisions or the small gestures of tenderness between lovers? These touching manifestations are diminishing in todays world, where people live their fast lives and where communication takes place more and more through electronic devices. People hardly even speak to one another on the phone anymore, more often prefering to send a text, avoiding the bigger degree of interaction that is involved in a phone call. So it is no surprise that strange reactions have developed towards being touched and caressed, however the concept of ‘personal space’ is not a normal response, it demonstrates the effects of touch deprivation.

One who lives without fears lives without the need for ‘personal space’

Human beings without any fears, those free from the chronic fear of living, do not need this ‘security space’ for they are able to touch others spontaneously with ease, and this touch doesn’t necessarily have any erotic connotations either.

People who are unconsciously searching for touch, for example are not only going for a massage to have their muscles ‘un-knotted’, one of the main reasons they go is to fulfil their need for touch. From a certain perspective we can say that modern people are hungry for touch, and the protective shields that keeps each person in their own compartments does nothing to help this situation, it makes it worse. From a spiritual perspective we know that there is a profound connection between our skin and the subtle structures of our being

In a certain way the skin is the soul’s path for communicating with the exterior. 
Our skin is the most generous from our sense organs, when carefully and lovingly touched by another human being with hands or other parts of the body, it produces in our being almost instantly the awakening of the Heart chakra – Anahata chakra.

After the trauma of birth the newborn finds his first comfort in the first affectionate meeting with his mother’s skin, later he will never cease his search to find this lost paradise. Regarding this a poet once said “the human being always needs touch and caress, the mother is breast feeding and protecting him since the first day of life” Without us knowing our skin is keeping the mysterious and affectionate memory of those tender days in which we were nesting in our mothers bosom, hungry for affection in a deep feeling of paradisiacal peace. When there, as if by magic, all the pains in the developing body would dissolve, due to the activation of Anahata chakra, providing our first oxytocin bath in this life. Isn’t it amazing that it is sometimes enough to take a newborn child in our arms when they are screaming, and they are immediately comforted and at peace.

The immense benefits of the loving and caring touch were rediscovered in the last century

Even if the spiritual connection with Anahata chakra was not yet discovered in the Western world, the touch of the skin was re-evaluated as being a genuine stress interrupter, as it was considered in different systems of psychology.

The biologist Frederick Harris noticed that many of the laboratory mice that he used in some experiments survived the extraction of the thyroid and parathyroid glands. Those who survived this impossibility were the ones that were caressed and played with by the operators, he continued the experiments realizing that the survival chances were up to six times increased in the case of those who had the affectionate treatment, in comparison to the ones who were normally treated (directly operated not caressed etc)

Animals show a certain wisdom of the direct touch in various ways, for example in different experiments mice that were removed from their mothers immediately after birth and were not caressed – had their development stunted, whilst those that were caressed with a small brush, that imitated the touch of the mother developed normally.

Similarly the human being who is caressed and touched will develop very well and the growth process will be normal. Touch is one of the first senses to develop inside the womb. A young baby is unable to see clearly or differentiate between sounds and will interact with the world through touch.

Nowadays immediately after birth the child is laid on the mother’s chest for the first touch, this is of great importance for the future adult. The silent and mysterious loving embrace of the mother stimulates the new born child’s metabolism, the power to adapt in the new environment and even the beginning of gaining weight. All this is produced by the stimulation of Anahata chakra and the corresponding hormone oxytocin activity. Research has demonstrated this by proving that babies and children who receive healthy touch grow up to be well adjusted and capable adults, whereas those who are touch deprived are more likely to have problems in adulthood.

In the beginning of the orphanage institutions, those children who were there from birth rarely survived, because the nurses gave them only basic care, without any personal touch or tenderness the little ones were falling in to a depression from loneliness, for many it was fatal; illness of the respiratory system was (not by coincidence since the skin is related to the heart chakra that is controlling the respiratory system) the most frequent cause of death. 
In time the staff were taught a completely different method of caring for the children, a way that included the sensations of caressing and touch, and the survival rate among babies who were there from birth increased dramatically.

When we are lacking touch we search for it unconsciously

In the attempts to fulfill the hunger to be touched we tend to go towards the places that provide it, spending longer time caressing our pets, enjoying having a hair cut, having a beauty treatment, these are also often in moments of difficulty- caused by daily stresses etc. An important observation with great consequences is: when frustrated from not having the affectionate touch humans can accumulate stress as unconscious muscular contractions that in time can generate illness in different organs.
Regarding this Dr Gerad Leleu says “Many cervical, dorsal or lumber pains are nothing but the spastic pains from the lack of touch”.

There are many things we can still say about the importance of touch for our health, but we will look upon the esoteric perspective now

Different spiritual systems have explained about the connections that exist between the skin, the touch and the heart chakra – Anahata. It is not a coincidence that when we feel deep feelings that have been triggered by another person we may say “I feel touched” or “You touched my heart”. These expressions show the deep connection between the touch and the heart.

It is also not by coincidence that today, when people are less affectionate and many lack the capacity to love, they are also not touching one another and prefer a distant relation. A Swedish psychologist revealed that those who are spoiled in a natural and spontaneous way live longer and enjoy better health.

For initiates this is in deep connection with the activation of Anahata chakra that regulates the general status of heath and the way we enjoy our life. Therefore enjoying a life in which we cuddle, touch and are in touch with life itself our health is much improved and we will become happier than before.

Here is an important element that we have to understand: giving or receiving loving touches and caresses is preceived in the same manner by our mind and our reactions are similar. We don’t have to wait for someone to touch us in a loving way or to caress us in order to feel happy and to expand our heart. The act of giving has the same effects and therefore all we have to do is to find a person that needs it… and this is not so easy today.

In other words for those who are giving others loving playful touches and caresses – Anahata chakra is permanently active. This element also implies that we need to be aware of this phenomena and this connection. It only takes a few days of conscious touching to become aware of the connection between Anahata chakra and touch and to fully benefit from every loving caress we are giving and receiving.

The touch is also breaking the “fear bubble” that most people built around themselves today. By touching with love and tenderness we immediately get out of our egoistic prison and we start to expand our consciousness. It is because we are not used to being attentive to this power of touch, we stay in the security zone at the beginning and of course the communication seems to justify the security measures we have taken. As we react to the feeling of disconnection we over charge the inferior mind, in order to compensate the lack of heart, therefore we become ‘minds with people’, not ‘people with minds.’ This status is perpetuated more and more through this culture we have of being alienated from one another.

The instinctive touch we give to our lover, in order to establish a communication in an affectionate way, is very often just the ‘half way’ into the real heart-to-heart communication, and it is the reason why we can still become frustrated from the heart perspective and do not even notice it even if the relationship seems good. In other words sometimes we are searching for the touch and we touch one another, especially in a love relationship, but most often this is done unconsciously as some almost instinctive gestures that break the separation and walls we establish with one another, but its not enough. In many cases we can still be hungry for touch and still have problems at the affective level to be fulfilled in the heart.

The touch has to be learned in a conscious way, we need to become aware of the connection that the touch creates between the two surfaces. In fact the touch is just the gate, it is the channel of transmission between two spaces, becoming aware of the touch in fact means that we become aware both about our space and the other ones space and this is the first important step to unite the two spaces.

(end of part one)

http://www.mihaistoian.net/the-magic-of-touch-part-one/