The Gift of Touch
Field Notes
To be in touch is a gift to the inner self — an opening into communion with what is true, felt, and alive.
One of the most distinctive qualities of Biodynamic Massage Therapy is the nature of the touch itself. We call it therapeutic touch: a way of meeting the inner self through direct communication with the body.
As I have come to experience it, this quality of touch invites both therapist and client into a shared field of presence, where there is no need to explain, make sense of, or be anything other than in touch. In this space, the body can deeply exhale, drop into felt experience and begin to notice what is alive and moving within.
How therapeutic touch supports the nervous system
The importance of nurturing touch in human development and connection is already well known. More recent research in neuroscience has been exploring the impact of ‘affective’ touch and how specialised nerve fibres, known as C-tactile afferents, respond to gentle, slow stroking and communicate with brain regions involved in emotion and bodily feeling. This research is beginning to offer more insight into the pathways in which touch influences our emotional experience and sense of safety.
Within Biodynamic Psychology, therapeutic touch can play a role in how we metabolise stress and more readily settle into states of rest and relaxation. The various massage techniques within the modality create the conditions for the autonomic nervous system to move through states of arousal towards expression and rest (from sympathetic to parasympathetic states).
Just as importantly, the therapeutic nature of the work offers the client the space to receive, without having to consciously ‘relax’ or bring about a particular result. Sometimes, the client may notice something shift. Sometimes, they may simply switch off and rest. This, to me, is the gift of therapeutic touch and biodynamic massage: a space in which we can soften our hold and simply be.