THE REWARDS OF TOUCH

HANDS OF LOVE

Laura J. Neuhalfen RN, CNEH, Reiki Master

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 CONTENTS

1. ANATOMY OF SKIN

2. RESEARCH OF TOUCH

3. CREATING A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR

HANDS

4. MAPPING THE CONNECTION FROM TOUCH

5. SETTING HEALTHY BOUNDERIES

6. TOUCH WITH INTENTION

7. GIVING AND RECEIVING

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 SKIN

Our skin is the largest organ of our body. Let’s take

a look at some of the physical attributes of the skin.

In a grown man it covers about 19 square feet and

weighs 8 lbs. A piece of skin the size of a quarter
contain more than 3 MILLION cells, 100 to 340
sweat glands, 50 nerve endings and 3 feet of blood
vessels. (www.tuberose.com)

Our skin is an organ made up of a double-layered

tissue that stretches over the surface of our body.
One of the jobs of our skin is to protect us from
drying or losing fluid, from harmful external
substances, and from extremes of temperature.

The inner layer, called the dermis, contains sweat

glands, blood vessels, nerve endings (sense
receptors of touch), and the bases of hair and nails.

The outer layer, the epidermis, is only a few cells

thick; it contains pigments, pores, and ducts, and its
surface is made of dead cells that it sheds from the
body. (Hair and nails are adaptations arising from
the dead cells.) The sweat glands excrete waste and
cool the body through evaporation of fluid droplets;
the blood vessels of the dermis supplement
temperature regulation by contracting to preserve
body heat and expanding to dissipate it. Separate

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kinds of receptors convey pressure, temperature,
and pain.

Touch is accomplished by nerve endings in the skin

that communicate sensations to the brain via nerve
fibers. Nerves end in or between the cells of the
epidermis, the outer layer of the skin, in all parts of
the body.

Our skin plays the role of protector against the

physical environment. But is also is our protector in
the emotional environmental.

We use our skin to protect us from emotions by

either allowing or not allowing touch. In instances
of trauma, many will pull inward and not allow
touch. It is instinctive to pull back from someone
who is projecting a negative emotion.

So now we know that our skin plays a major role in

how we interpret the world around us.

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 RESEARCH

Our need to touch and be touched is with us from

birth to death. We need touch as much as we need
food and water.

In the 19th century, more that half of all infants in

their first year of life died from a disease called
Marasmus, a Greek word for “wasting away”.
Doctors later discovered that this disease was
caused by a lack of touch: babies not touched on a
regular basis would literally starve themselves to
death. (“The Touch Deficit” by Patti Wood, MA,
CSP www.Pattiwood.net)

Another extraordinary study completed in the 20th

century by Ashley Monatgu, a touch researcher,
found that children deprived of loving touch suffer
the consequences in their bones – small lines of
retarded growth, known as Harris lines, appear at
the ends of the tibia and the radius. The findings of
this study concluded that touch affects us to our
very core. (Ashley Monatgu 1986)

The Touch Research Institute that was set up by the

University of Miami’s school of Medicine in 1992
did a worldwide research on touch. The findings
established that there are two types of cultures –
“high touch”, such as France, Italy and Greece,
and “low touch”, such New Zealand, Australia,

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Britain and the United States. Some of the research
involved observing couples in cafes for 30 minutes
and recording their touching.

In Paris, the “touch rate” was 110 times over half

an hour. In Miami, couples made physical contact
just twice in the same time. Researchers also
compared physical contact in preschool
playgrounds. In Paris, children touched one
another affectionately 23 percent of the time; in
Miami, they did so only 3 percent of the time.
Aggressive touching occurred 37 percent of the time
in the Miami playground, but only 1 percent in the
Paris preschool. The institute’s researchers went on
to establish a worldwide correlation between high-
touch cultures and low rates of suicide, abuse and
depression. Italy had the lowest rates of suicide and
ranked in the highest of high-touch cultures.
www.TRI.com

Through the research done on the importance of

touch, scientist have shown that the amount of
touch contact in our lives plays a crucial role in our
psychological and physical development as babies
as well in our pleasure and vitality as adults.

Touch is essential for the emotional, physical and

spiritual well being of all humans. Yet, studies show
that we lack the very thing that we crave. TOUCH.

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 CREATING A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR
HANDS

Imagine that you hold the power to that will:

Reduce stress
Calm anxiety and depression
Strengthen the immune system
Enhance recovery from surgery
Deepen a spiritual connection
Create a sense of well-being
Manage pain
Foster peace of mind
Enhance the capacity for calm thinking

You do hold the power. It is found within your

hands.

We instinctively touch a child on the forehead when

they are sick. The touch brings a sense of calm.
Both parties involved in the touch (the giver and the
receiver) are rewarded with a sense of calm. You
cannot touch someone without the touch also
affecting you.

Take a moment and look at you hands. I mean really

look at them. Notice the shape of your palms and
length of your fingers. Our hands are truly the
extension of “who” we are.

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We use our hands as tools to reach and grasp, but
when was the last time we used our hands to just
simply touch?

To begin to understand the benefits of touch we

must first feel comfortable with touch ourselves.

The following exercise should be done in a quiet

place and only takes about 5- 15 minutes. The more
you do this exercise the greater the outcome. This
exercise will give you all the benefits of touch. Five
to fifteen minutes a day will give a lifetime of
rewards.

So find a comfortable position, either sitting in a

comfortable chair or lying down. Remove glasses
for this exercise. You will need to be able to make
full contact with the face.

To receive the fullest benefits of this exercise it is

best if your hands do not loose contact with the
body/skin.

Once in the comfortable position put your hands

together, palm to palm. Use a gentle touch. Softly
touch your fingers together. Close your eyes. Take a
deep breath. Don’t rush. Feel the sensation. You
may feel heat or a tingling or nothing at all.

Take some slow deep breaths. Gently place your

hands on the top of your head. Breathe. Feel the

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sensation. Don’t rush. Check the emotion felt. Do
your feel a sensation on your hands or your head?

Now slowly move your hands from the top of your

head and rest the palms on the sockets of your eyes.
Let your fingertips rest on your forehead. Breathe.
Feel the sensation. Don’t rush. Be aware of the
emotional feeling as well as the physical sensation.
Take a deep breath before you move your hands.

Slowly move your hands down your face, cupping

your chin in your palms. Let your finger rest on
your cheeks or along the side of your face. Take a
deep breath. Feel the sensation. Relax. Check the
emotions. What are your feelings?

Gently slide your hands down to your throat area; a

light touch is most comfortable here. Take one hand
and put behind your neck. So you have one hand
resting gently on your throat and the other on the
back of your neck. Breathe. Feel the sensation.
Don’t rush.

Next, place the palms of your hand on your chest.

Let the fingertips rest where they may. Your hands
will be stacked with fingers pointing in opposite
directions. Breathe in deep. Feel the sensation.
Think loving thoughts. Again, check the emotions.
Allow any emotion to arise.

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Let your hands slide down to your stomach. Breathe
in deep. Feel the sensation. Relax your shoulders.
Because the stomach’s area is below the rib cage to
the thighs you may want to take extra time here and
gently move your hands around to cover the entire
area. Remember to check the emotions. Don’t rush.
Breathe deep.

Slowly move your hands to the top of your thighs.

Keep the touch light. You may want to softly stroke
your thighs. Breathe in deep. Relax. Feel the
sensation from your hands to your body.

Next touch your knees. Again, breathe in. Relax.

Don’t rush. Check to see if your shoulders are still
relaxed. Breathe and check your emotions.

If it is comfortable to touch your feet, do so. First

touch the top of your feet. Breathe. Relax. Move
one hand to the sole of the foot. So the foot is
sandwiched between the hands. Do both feet. Feel
the sensation. Breathe.

After the touch on the feet, place your hands on

your lap with the palms facing up. At this point it is
okay to loose contact with your body. Fingers are
relaxed. Take some deep breathes.

Take a moment to think about the feelings. Check

the physical body. Do you feel relaxed? How do
you feel emotionally?

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 MAPPING THE CONNECTION

So how does the touch sensation go from the skin to

the emotion?

Have you ever felt the touch of someone’s hand on

your shoulder and feel yourself letting go? But just
how the touch sends the message to release emotion
is still is under research.

One of the diagnostic tools used in the research of

touch is the MRI. Resonance Imaging (MRI),
medical diagnostic technique that creates images of
the body using the principles of nuclear magnetic
resonance. A versatile, powerful, and sensitive tool,
MRI can generate thin-section images of any part of
the body—including the heart, arteries, and veins—
from any angle and direction, without surgical
invasion and in a relatively short period of time.
MRI also creates “maps” of biochemical
compounds within any cross section of the human
body. These maps give basic biomedical and
anatomical information that provides new
knowledge. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006. © 1993-
2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved

The use of the MRI was used in the research of

touch by Lucy Brown, Neuroscientist.

Current research tracks the impact of touch on the

brain with functional MRI. (FMRI) FMRI can

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detect activity in different brain areas by measuring
the increase in blood flow that is correlated with an
increase in neuronal activity. While this research is
still in its infancy, it holds some promise. (Lucy
Brown Neuroscientist., www.alinenewton.com
2005)

Touch can reduce stress, but how does the sensation

of touch do that. According to research on touch
there have been little scientific studies on how touch
reduces stress in the biological body.

One of the most common findings from research,

including a study at the Institute of Neurological
Sciences in Glasgow, is that touch lowers hear rate
and blood pressure. But how? Work at Duke
University in Durham, North Caroline, may provide
an answer. It has shown that touch and massage
can cut levels of stress hormones, which have been
implicated in increasing the risk of a number of
diseases. Touch many also increase levels of
melatonin and of the feel-good hormone, serotonin.
(HOW THE POWER OF TOUCH REDUCES PAIN
AND EVEN FIGHTS DISEASE, Roger Dobson, The
Independent, 10 October 2006)

Even with all the findings of the research and

studies we know that when we are touched or when
we touch someone it is much more that science.

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When we feel a hand on our back when we are tired
it soothes. The same goes for when we want to
extend comfort to someone else, we touch them.
The bottom line is that touch feels good.

Touch provides the nurturing that is vital for a

healthy and balanced person.

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SETTING HEALTHY BOUNDARIES OF TOUCH

We know that touch feels good, but it is also

important to establish healthy boundaries.

As a nurse I think of the many times I thought of

nothing to touch my patient. I didn’t give much
thought to asking permission. By not asking
permission I had not allowed healthy boundaries to
be set. Boundaries are important to protect the one
who touches and also the one being touched.

Remember our skin is our barrier/receiver of our

environment.
It is also important to respect the person if they say
no. No means No. Do not try to convince them.
But, don’t give up either. Let them know that you
will respect their wishes.

It would be okay to ask at a later time. Explain

where the touch would be and for what purpose. For
example, you can offer to hold a hand, or to touch
the shoulder. Explain the benefits of touch.
Touching without permission can be considered an
intrusion of privacy. Also, honor yourself as well. If
you don’t want to be touched it is okay to say no.

We live in a “low touch” society and it may take

time to turn our social ideas and practices around.
Start with yourself first to induce change.

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I find that offering a hug is usually well accepted.

Hugging your partner could lower his or her blood

pressure and yours too.

Researchers have found that in younger women, the

more hugs they get, the lower their blood pressure.

Researchers at the University f North Carolina who

investigated 69 pre menopausal women showed that
those who had the most hugs had a reduced heart
rate. (HOW THE POWER OF TOUCH REDUCES
PAIN AND EVEN FIGHTS DISEASE, Roger
Dobson, The
Independent, 10 October 2006)

But most of all hugs feel great!

TOUCH WITH INTENTION

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INTENTION.
1. aim or objective: something that somebody plans
to do

2. quality of purposefulness: the quality or state of

having a purpose in mind

Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-

2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

I included the definition of intention so we could

better understand of touching with a purpose. Touch
with intention.

What we are thinking or feeling can be interpreted

by our touch. Our skin can feel what the intention
is.

Ever feel goose bumps on your arms and the back

of neck? I am sure that we have all experience a
touch of anger or fear as well as love.

At DePauw University in Indiana, Dr Matthew

Hertenstein has discovered that touch
communicates emotion. When people were touched
by a stranger they could not see, who had been
instructed to try to communicate a particular
emotion, they were able to tell the emotional state
of the other person with great accuracy.

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The findings show that people can communicate
emotions through touch alone, including anger,
fear, disgust, love, gratitude, and sympathy.
Accuracy rates ranged from 48 per cent to 83 per
cent, comparable with those found in studies of
emotions shown in faces and voices. “The evidence
indicates that humans can communicate several
distinct emotions through touch” said Dr
Hertenstein. “Our study is the first to provide
rigorous evidence showing that humans can
reliably signal love, gratitude and sympathy with
touch. These findings raise the interesting
possibility that touch may convey more positive
emotions than the face.”

What it suggests, too is that touch is a much more

sophisticated tool that previously thought. It could
also explain why different trials on the therapeutic
effects of touch can get differing results. It may be
that touch works, but that it needs the right person,
in the right mood, doing the touching. . (HOW THE
POWER OF TOUCH REDUCES PAIN AND EVEN
FIGHTS DISEASE, Roger Dobson, The
Independent, 10 October 2006)

The findings of Dr. Hertenstein reveal that our

intention of touch is as powerful as the touch itself.

GIVING AND RECEIVING

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How do we give and receive touch with intention?

Let’s take a moment and go over the material. The

skin is our largest organ. Within the layers of the
skin there is a matrix of many different nerve
endings that send the message of touch to the brain.
These messages are very complicated. Such as: the
type of touch either light or hard. The message tells
the brain where the body is being touched. It even
can tell the intention of the touch. Yet, studies show
that the skin is also the most neglected organ when
it comes to touch.

Research has also proven that touch can give many

benefits to increase the quality of life beyond the
physical realm. The conclusion of the research
drives home the fact that touch is needed in order to
have a productive, balanced life.

In order to be able to give and receive touch, we

must first feel comfortable with ourselves. By
practicing the exercise found in Chapter 3 on a daily
basis will assist in giving to others.

Asking a family member, friend or co-worker to do

the exercise with you is a good idea also.

The only way to experience the rewards of touch is

to do it.

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A simple way is to ask someone if you can touch
their shoulders. the most comfortable way to do
this, is to stand behind them. While standing behind
them tell them you are going to touch their
shoulders. When you get a response gently place
your hands on their shoulders. The touch should be
soft. Take a deep breath. Really be in the moment.
Feel the sensation of the touch. Think a pleasant
thought. Ask the person to close their eyes and take
a deep breath. No words are necessary. Be quiet for
a moment and allow the touch to communicate for
you.

It’s nice to take turns. Have your time of being

touched on the shoulders. Take the time to breathe
and enjoy the touch. Reflect in the emotion. Feel
the physical sensation of receiving touch.

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