🌿 The Healing Power of Touch

(A reflection from “A Lifetime in Rhythm”)

Sometimes every living creature just wants to be held.

From a wounded animal to a wounded soul, there’s something about touch that reaches where words can’t. A child runs crying after a scraped knee, arms outstretched, and before the bandage is ever found, healing has already begun — in the safety of an embrace.

Adults aren’t so different.
We may stop reaching out, but the need never leaves us.

Touch is connection made visible.
It’s the body’s way of saying, “I’m here with you. You’re safe. You’re not alone.”

Science now confirms what intuition has always known: touch releases oxytocin — the “bonding hormone” — which lowers stress, slows the heart rate, and helps the body repair. It reduces cortisol, the stress hormone that keeps our systems in overdrive, and boosts immune function. Even gentle touch, like holding a hand or resting a palm over someone’s shoulder, can calm the nervous system and quiet emotional pain.

But even before science explained it, we knew it. The way a hug after loss can soften what no words could. The way a friend’s hand steadies ours in a storm. The way an animal finds comfort in curling close — and how, somehow, we find comfort too.

Because touch isn’t just received; it’s exchanged. It’s energy moving between beings — a silent conversation that says, You matter. You’re loved. You’re alive.

It’s as if the power of touch is woven into the very DNA of every living thing. We comfort them as they comfort us. From humans to animals, every heartbeat recognizes the language of contact.

So pause a little longer. Hug without rushing. Rest your hand over your own heart when life feels heavy. Let your pet lay its head in your lap and feel the rhythm of shared peace.

Good energy flows through contact.
Touch reminds the body what the mind sometimes forgets —
we are meant to connect, not just exist.

And sometimes, healing begins right there.

🪷💙
Jen