Feel the need for more touch in your life?

One of the things that happens when you become more connected to your body is that you start noticing your needs more and the extent to which they are not being filled.

One of those needs for me is touch. I suspect that I’m not the only one who is touched deprived. 

Touch is one of those needs that is crucial when we first come to this world but that we need to keep attending to throughout our lives in order to stay healthy physically and emotionally. 

Unfortunately there’s so much hurt and confusion around touch that hardly anyone gets the amount they really need in order to thrive. 

Oh, and not to mention what  pandemics do to our need for touch! 

So as I’m trying to figure out how to include more touch in my life, one thought that comes up is: 

“How about starting with bringing awareness to the moments that you’re getting touched intentionally or unintentionally”? 

I don’t know for sure this is a full substitute for getting the proper amount and kind of touch that one needs but I suspect that if we stay more present when we are being touched as part of our daily living and casual interaction with the world, we’ll feel so much better

This includes:

Greeting a friend with a hug

Having your hair washed at the hair salon

Petting an animal

Getting manual work done in PT or bodywork 

Noticing hands belly as you lie down to meditate or rest 

Noticing your fingers on your mouth as you’re thinking how to respond to that email 

Noticing the contact of the chair supporting you bottom and back body as you’re sitting Noticing the water running through your hair and body as you take a shower

The list goes on and there are ways we can actively seek more touch, but there are many opportunities for touch that go unnoticed in our daily life. 

Pausing to savor these moments can counter our lack of awareness. Connect to the sensation of pleasure these small moments provide and you’ll feel the love and pleasure you’re seeking. 

So next time you are being touched by anything, anybody or yourself take a moment to really take that in and enjoy it!