You can’t touch me!

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Sara Phillipps

A freelance web designer & developer based in Melbourne, Australia.

The other day I was listening to my favourite podcast to stay updated on the “Corona-mania” (for those interested – its called Science Vs.); and there was a mention of infants who were born to mothers with Corona. It stated that mothers in America were given an option to either make physical contact with the baby right after birth or stay away due to the possible risk of infecting the baby. While many would think that the answer is obvious, you’d be surprised to know that WHO recommends NOT separating the mother from the baby, irrespective of the virus.

And this got me thinking – about touch!

Physical contact between an infant and mother is so important in shaping their view of the world. So what does this mean about the sense of touch?

And more importantly, what can the lack of touch at a time like this do to individuals?

First up, lets talk about touch baby!

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We have 5 senses – touch being one of them and the first sense to develop when we are in our mother’s womb. Touch is the function of our skin – the largest organ in our body. Touch is the also the sense that puts us in direct contact with the other – not like the senses of smell, sight or hearing. So when we look at us humans as evolutionary beings, it’s interesting to see how this sense developed and grew more complex over time. When our species evolved to stand upright on its legs, it made our hands available to explore and touch objects.

Fun fact! This is why our hands have almost 2000 sensory receptors. Hands are super sensitive compared to other parts of body – it has been designed for sensory exploration!

It is the somatosensory cortex, which helps us to identify the location and nature of touch. This is why we can scientifically state that there IS a good touch and bad touch – our brain helps us to process it. In fact a study in 2014 established that hugging can actually strengthen the immune system! What’s more interesting is that the right kind of touch can lead to release of Oxytocin – a hormone that reduces the response to stress.

From the yoga perspective, touch has always been linked to energy exchange. The human body is perceived as a collection of vibrating energy particles, and when we come in contact with another, we literally share these vibrations and pass on our vibration (or vibe!) to the other.

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So now that we are living through a pandemic where the biggest fear is not how much sugar your neighbour is asking for, but the fact that your neighbour is knocking on your door (Gasp! Contact!) - we are increasingly growing scared of physical human contact. What does this mean for our psychological health?

How does lack of touch affect us? And how can we manage the lack of touch in our life in this pandemic world?

With escalated numbers of virtual social interactions through social media, we are increasingly becoming aware of the actual isolation we are living through. Many who feel this sense of isolation end up spiralling down the rabbit hole of mental disorders or simply a deep sense of sorrow – we don’t need a psychological diagnosis to want to feel unhappy – sadness is REAL! This leads to what experts are calling ‘touch starvation’. And this has been a trend even before the COVID crisis - people would much rather get on a video call than actually meet over coffee; Whatsapp text conversations are preferred over an actually meeting to save time in this fast paced world.

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I hate to break it to you, nothing is as effective as an actual comforting, positive physical touch – that hug from a dear friend, the embrace of your loved one – nothing compares to those of course. But what are the few things we can do to still feed our brain the sensory elixir of touch even in this time of social distancing?

1. Humans are social beings. We are designed to live in a community and we thrive in this setting. This has been the way we evolved, survived and grew. Therefore touch and physical contact is so important for us as a species. In fact this stands true for all primates. So one way we can continue to feel this sense of community is by keeping in touch (Hah! Pun intended!) with our loved ones through video calls. But remember that 2014 study I mentioned above that talks about touch releasing Oxytocin? Well we have a way to replicate that! So while its good to just chat with another human, try joining a movement based group class with like-minded people. This could be dance, yoga, pilates or even functional training. If you are someone who is shy then try joining with friends. When we move, we release dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins; and this coupled with seeing and interacting with other humans has a really positive effect on our mental wellbeing. While being a lone wolf and working out alone is alright, we are living in a time where social distancing is a legal mandate so in order to mimic the neurosensory response to physical contact, it's important to keep this ‘human-ness’ intact.

Don’t know a good class? Click here!

(Yes, self-promotion with no shame hah!)

2. Practice mindful activities. This means doing any activity with complete and purposeful awareness. For example practice eating mindfully – notice the texture of the food within your mouth apart from just the sight and smell of the food. Try to experience the tactile sensation of foods and liquids within your body - notice how you swallow, become aware of the sensations through the throat. Mindful movements and meditation also help to heighten our awareness of the senses, so at a time when we don’t have human touch around us, it can be an opportunity to harness and grow the other senses. You would be surprised how quickly the human body adapts!

3. Practice visualizations and touch based mediations. There have been various studies that prove that visualizing an action lights up the same areas in our brain as actually doing that action. So try visualizing and meditating on the sense of touch. When you sit, stand or lie down on a surface, notice the point of contact with that surface, and then visualize that surface rising up to you to support you. It’s not about imagining you making contact but the other way around – the surface coming to touch you. You can also meditate on visualizing hugging someone you love, experiencing all the emotions as they come. This is a powerful way to stay connected to that human need for touch.

4. Touch yourself! Okay I know, I know what you’re thinking. Now for many this might sound like TMI; but touching yourself isn’t just limited to self-pleasure aka masturbation. Self-touch could also mean a good head massage, pressing acupressure or marma points, or simply pressing the palms together and experiencing how that feels – the skin to skin contact. The options are endless - key is to direct our awareness to the sense of touch. This is why practices like yoga and dance have such a profound effect on our wellbeing – it’s because we are so fully aware of the physical contact we make with our body by simply observing the body.

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So if you find yourself signing up for that digital happy hour (I never quite got that!) and still feel a sense of isolation dawning upon you, try these techniques - and maybe the prospect of touch wont seem like a "socially-distant" dream to you.


Originally published May 2, 2019

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