The Importance of Touch
Humans are hard wired to be touched. It s vital on a mental, emotional and physical level. Touch is the mother of all senses, touch, the first instinctual thing a mother does holding the child after giving birth, or when comforting a loved one in pain or suffering, even just the joy of greeting a friend with a hug, a business associate with a handshake, and of course sensual touch when we are with our beloved.
There are baby cradlers in children s hospitals ( yes, it s a job ) to comfort the little ones and with their human touch contribute to their healing. Caregivers gently work on elders that have been widowed or without relatives in retirement homes, even a pad on the back has a positive effect and can be powerful.
After over a year of isolating lockdowns during the Covid 19 pandemic, the world is globally touch deprived. We couldn’t see our families or come physically close, no hospital visits to someone fallen sick and people affected by a family death couldn’t comfort loved ones in their grief and suffering. And even in normal circumstances the lack of touch can have serious long-lasting effects on our health.
Tactile hunger is powerful, we have nerve fibers that recognize touch, sending signals to the vagus nerve, the longest of our cranial nerves connecting the brain to the body. When experiencing touch we release oxytocin, the connection or love hormone & neurotransmitter, we produce serotonin and dopamine the natural anti-depressants. Heart rate lowers, blood pressure and stress hormones decrease to allow optimal bodily functions. When we are touch deprived the body reacts with a stress response releasing cortisol and adrenalin which wreaks havoc on our nervous system resulting in anxiety and depression.
Touch is crucial to our health. Get in “touch”, book a massage, hug a pet, practice self massage on the body, scalp or feet, cradle a stuffed animal, dry brush, sleep under a weighted blanket.
My Massage and Ayurveda practice is safely open and I am fully vaccinated. I look forward to welcoming you there for treatments. My offerings are listed on the service page in the menu. Hope to see you soon.
It s been an honor and a pleasure to partner with the brand new Jewel Grande Resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica for their Grand Opening October 2017. The 33,000 sq ft Spa Grande conceptualized and helmed by Jewel Resorts Group Spa Director Sienna Creasy truly is Jamaica s new top destination for healing treatments and rituals, fitness, yoga and a full service salon. It features Jamaica s only Himalayan Salt room, outdoor mineral baths and a cafe.
I have recently started a 40 days of self love program, designed and offered by my wonderful life coach and friend Eva Maurice. It’s not about that I already have certain tools and practices in my life, but how regularly do I actually take the time to apply them? Be it meditation, a yoga practice, journaling, or simply taking a moment for gratitude, forgiving yourself and cultivating the authentic self with conscious awareness. Please inquire for information about the 40 days of self love program and get onboard with honoring the many levels of yourself – body, mind, spirit and emotions -on a daily basis. 
Welcome to 2011! I hope the New Year has started out fantastic for you, wherever you are. In our hemisphere it is wintertime, the Kapha season in Ayurveda. It is cold and moist in qualities, therefore we have to make sure we keep warm and dry. Those times are perfect for rejuvenation therapies, warm oil massages, herbal steams and the right food for body and mind to keep it engaged and active, yet relaxed.
This year the fall equinox and the harvest moon are happening on the same day. This change of season brings with it shorter days, wind, rain, and lower temperatures. In the ayurvedic calendar this is the beginning of Vata season. We hibernate more and after a hot outdoorsy time in the summer, we retreat more indoors and find comfort in cozy warm homes, congregating around the house with family and friends, or taking the time for reflection and going inside.
Spring is the perfect time to get rid of accumulated environmental toxins and metabolic waste in the body and mind. The ayurvedic Panchakarma cleanse is a mild yet profound way to detox and rejuvenate yourself. Like In nature this is the time of renewal.