Hello Lovelies …

Let me begin by stating that I’m not a doctor, I am speaking from clinical and teaching experience, and the touch I’m talking about is consensual, loving, kind and healing.

From the moment we are born as human beings, we are innately attuned to the sense of touch; research has shown the enormous benefits of skin-to-skin contact between a newborn baby, the mother and the father. The tactile connection lasts far beyond childbirth.

Did you know the sense connected to the heart chakra is touch, and the organ of touch are the hands? In my option … the hands are an expression of the heart. How we touch one another is, in fact, the essence of the heart …

A wide range of physiological and biochemical reactions happen throughout our lives when we touch another person or when someone touches us, especially when it physically moves the skin. Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami State, “when you touch and move the skin, you stimulate pressure receptors, and those receptors send neurons to activate the vagus nerve.”

The vagus nerve is one of the 12 cranial nerves that start in the brain; the vagus nerve helps to slow down and pacify the central nervous system, putting the body in a resting state, which helps to lower the stress hormone cortisol … which in turn can strengthen the immune system.

Another incredible physiological occurrence is when another person touches you, your levels of serotonin increase! Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that is your body’s natural antidepressant and pain reliever.

Oxytocin increases when cortisol is lowered, and serotonin is boosted … Oxytocin is known as the love hormone; it’s a bonding hormone; it creates a sense of safety, connection, and security.

Why am I sharing about the healing power of touch and connection?

Because many of us have been deprived of touch, contact and physical connection over the last few years, as a holistic therapist, yoga and meditation teacher, and well-being coach, I am now finding that more and more people, both women and men, are sharing just how stressed, anxious and lost they are feeling. They speak about it openly in yoga classes and the treatment room; through their coaching experience … online and in-person … people are crying out to be heard.

I knew this day would come in my heart of hearts as we all experienced restriction after restriction …

So, how can we boost the production of our happy feel-good hormones?

Here are a few ideas …

Book a treatment … massage, reiki, reflexology …

Take walks in nature daily, spend time in the sunlight

Exercise, dance, move your body

Spend time with friends

Practice yoga

Practice meditation, mindfulness, and conscious breathing

Sing, chant, laugh

Drink cacao

Intimacy

Watch a ‘feel-good movie

Call a friend and chat, hear their voice

Listen to music

Practice gratitude

Aromatherapy, use an uplifting scent

Stroke your pet

Sleep hygiene, get a good night’s sleep

Set & achieving goals (releases dopamine, the feel-good chemical)

Recall happy memories (triggers the production of serotonin)

Reach out and ask for help

In Love & Light

Julia

xxx