Why does touch therapy, i.e. massage and body work, matter?
As a part of an answer, here I’ve started collecting inspirational media about the importance of touch, and the efficacy of touch therapy, like body work and massage therapy.
More to come … the field is growing, as is the body of literature and media that supports the benefits of touch therapy in more conventional terms such as scientific peer-reviewed literature and the enumeration of mechanistic models. An interesting point about that (at least to me), is that it has required cutting edge integrative neurological (including psychoneuroimmunological) models and cutting edge physiology research to understand and describe the exact mechanisms by which long known (“long known” is nice discussion all to its own self) and used traditional techniques have supported wellness. Not so say that necessarily and therefore all traditional and ancient wellness methods are justified. There are plenty of ancient ideas that are fairly horrendous, I believe it is safe to say. There are however also many ancient and or traditional ideas and methods that are being affirmed through contemporary belief and proof mechanisms, and have also long been associated with positive outcomes.
To step away from the dry and rational for a moment, it may be well said that affect (that’s “AA-fect”) goes a long way. Relaxation and balance are wellness mechanisms in the dynamics of living systems (eye of the hurricane). Subtle energies are powerful (chaos/butterfly/hurricane). Love heals. Yada.
Again, though I’ve shared a link here, it doesn’t necessarily mean I agree with every point in an article or presentation, more likely that there is some content there that you too might find useful in making relationship with the role of touch and touch therapies in our lives. Diversity of opinion, in my view, is important, so constructively critical viewing is welcome and encouraged.
And … as always … thanks to those who make this media available!
youtube: Dr. David Linden on The Science of Touch and Feeling
youtube: Dr. Gabor Maté on Touch and Connection — check out the reference to Ashley Montagu’s “Touching: The Human Significance of the Skin”
youtube: Jane Anderson LMT on The Power of Touch — I like and appreciate this presentation because she knowingly and unabashedly begins with the lofty, and stereotypically laughable, idea that touch can create world peace (!) and then proceeds to step through efficacy studies and (briefly) some mechanics of the physiological (etc) responses to touch in support.