The Power of gentle touch

I was asked to write about the power of touch by Sam recently

This is what came

A hand , reaching out, fingers extended to press a button, a switch

A switch that could start an appliance, or a war, the car, lights , send an email , or a bomb.

Such is the power of touch and with that power comes responsibility. How will those appliances, that car or lights be used? Will there be an awareness of how the body is when using them? Does it support the body or is it done with random carelessness that overburdens or overstretches it ?

How are we sitting, touching the seats on our chairs , the keys on our computer and what sort of "bomb" can a carelessly worded email set off in the life of another?

Our bodies are full of buttons and switches. We call them cells. The stress imposed on them by the way we live , causes some to stick the way an appliance's switch does before it gets some gentle encouragement to work properly. Touch can ignite and unstick a cell to work more in harmony with the rest of the body, as it was designed to . When we say cell , it could be a memory or a fear, held in the body that holds us back from fully commiting to life.

A gentle touch can achieve so much . I am reminded of the old story about the wind and the sun having a competiton to get the coat off a man . The wind blew, howled with it's greatest force , but the man merely clutched his coat tighter around him. Then the sun shone and the man , now too hot , took off his coat .

Gentle touch can be firm , supporting but never imposing

I was washing up earlier this morning and when I considered the quality of my touch , my hands softened in their purpose and my whole body melted. Did my pots and pans feel this too? Can that gentleness be passed on to their next user?

Is touch that powerful?

I feel so, in many ways we do not know and can hardly imagine.

Touch is healing , beautiful and settles us deeply into a place where we can move on , renewed and settled, enriched by the power of touch .

Catherine B