The effect of touch is two-way; when we touch we receive a sensation and we also give one. The very act of touching another means that we too are touched. The word “touch” in English carries both a physical and emotional connotation. “I was touched” can mean someone connected physically with me. Or it can mean someone did something so gentle or kind for me that I was moved emotionally.
When you touch a body, you touch the whole person – the intellect, the spirit and the emotions. Unseen energy is conveyed in every touch a human being makes. Massage is a gentle, formalized and well understood method of conveying touch therapy.
Research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles in 2010 found that a single session of deep-tissue Swedish massage could cause biological changes such as significantly decreased levels of the hormones cortisol (involved with stress) and arginine vasopressin (which is linked to helping increase cortisol). In addition, levels of lymphocytes (white blood cells that are part of the immune system) were increased – which may suggest that therapeutic touch in the form of massage plays a vital role in strengthening our immunity, for example, increasing our ability to ward off the common cold.
In the same study, a group of volunteers who received lighter touch massage showed bigger decreases of adrenocorticotropic hormone (which stimulates the adrenal glands to release cortisol) and greater increases in oxytocin (which is related to contentment) than the Swedish massage group. Oxytocin is a powerful hormone which acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain. Its levels rise when we hug or kiss someone we love, indicating this hormone’s vital role in pair bonding. According to Psychology Today online, “Prairie voles, one of nature's most monogamous species, produce oxytocin in spades. This hormone is also greatly stimulated during sex, birth, breast feeding – the list goes on.”
Every act of touching is accompanied by an intention – an important factor in the success of therapeutic touch. For example, research shows that an acupuncturist believing in the healing power of the needles she places in the arm of a client will positively affect the outcome of the therapy – as much as will the positive belief of her client. (John Upledger, DO, OMM – Massage Today magazine).