The power of touch

“There is not a culture where touch is natural. We don’t feel very confident in the presence of others, therefore touch is not natural, it’s not organic, and the word ‘touch’ is so misused.”

Polish massage therapist Beata Aleksandrowicz commenting on the British
I’m a touchy-feelly person – I like to kiss women on the cheek, hug male friends, and even touch the arm or shoulder of colleagues. But this is not very British and some people – including some of my closest friends – find touch uncomfortable and obviously I respect that and refrain from it in their presence.
Of course, touch is not always appropriate or welcome – but, in so many situations, it can have a really powerful and positive effect as explained in this article.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 17th, 2007 at 10:25 am and is filed under Miscellaneous. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

2 Comments

  • mavis
    July 17th, 2007 at 11:17 am

    I was born into a ‘touch’ family. And touch is what I miss the most. But I have some ‘huggy’ friends and count myself lucky.
    I love it when I get hugs or even just a light touch on the shoulder or arm from anybody. It feels like a connection to the rest of humanity.
    I always had a cat until just after I retired when the last one, aged 17, died. I refrained from getting another as I reckoned it would outlive me. I miss cats, as I could hug them whenever I wanted to and they hugged me back, sometimes.
    Roger, never stop touching – you will be helping someone who would never ask but needs that hug.

  • Janet
    July 17th, 2007 at 9:23 pm

    My daughter gave me a fridge magnet that reads “A hug is a wonderful gift – one size fits all”. Worth remembering.