Gentle, kind, loving touch is connective and calming. Touch is another way of communicating kindness, compassion, and presence. Hand holding, caressing, stroking, hugging, and massage are some forms of touch.
Touch expresses care from one person to another. The hands are an extension of the heart. The act and experience of touch serve as a restorative force and helps communicate that people are connected versus separate.
Everyone is connected.
The desired type of touch for each person can feel like the presence of angel wings caressing the soul saying, “I am here. I see you. I am with you. You are not alone.”
“Touching is a very old way of healing. Touch as a mother would touch a child, because what a mother is saying through her touch is ‘live.’ Something in touching strengthens the will to live in us. Healing is evoking the will to live in another person. It comes about not by doing something but by letting another person know that their pain and their suffering and their fear matter. They really matter.”
-Rachel Naomi Remen, MD in Anticancer by David Servan-Schreiber, MD, PhD
- Who touches you?
- Do you want more touch in your life?
- What forms of touch do you desire?
- How can you create that for yourself?
Many cancer patients need support, and a healing touch can be available with an open mindset. Trust that the presence of others will be given, and if it doesn’t come, recognize that life is a journey. Keep on asking and know resilience is with you as you believe.
