Appreciating Touch

Healthy Touch

One of my daughters and her roommate have friends over to their apartment for a weekly "Appreciation Night." They celebrate different aspects of life: leaves, hammocks, color, light, music, cereal . . . you get the idea. They will do an activity based on their topic. The people who attend vary each week, depending on who is available and who is interested in the activity. And someone always brings a new person or two. I love to hear about their activities and the friends they make. I have longed to join them.

I finally got the chance last week! My youngest daughter was on spring break, so we decided to spend one night with her older sister at college. We conveniently picked "Appreciation Night." Well, my daughter took advantage of me - more than the usual free dinner - and asked if I would help them to appreciate touch.

The Family That Massages Together, Stays Together

Although I am trained and now a "professional" in touch - I firmly believe that we need to be touching each other in healthy ways. I love to teach clients techniques that they can take home and encourage them to massage their family and friends. Long before we had any training, we massaged our kids, they us, and they even massaged each other. One of my favorite childhood memories is trading back rubs with my sister before we went to sleep each night. We'd set a timer so that neither of us got an extra second!

About 20 college students showed up - it was a lot of people in my daughter's little apartment. We paired up, and I had them wash each other's feet with baby wipes. Most of them were nervous because their feet stank, they thought their feet were ugly, or they were ticklish. But with a little encouragement, all of them got their feet washed.

The Master's Hand

Christ washes Peter's feet

I then shared a scripture from John 13:5, 14-15:

"After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. . . . If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you."

We shared a few other scriptures about touch and talked about the touch of the Master. In today's world, Satan has warped what touch means; it doesn't need to be sexualized, but can be healing and healthy. After our little discussion they were excited and ready!

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Touching Breaks Barriers

I taught them a few techniques for massaging feet, but mostly encouraged them to play around with what felt good. After both partners had massaged each other's feet, I had them switch to a new partner. They learned how to massage each other's hands. I thought that would be sufficient for the evening, but they wanted to continue. We switched to new partners again and I taught them a few things about massaging the head, shoulders, and back. It was delightful to hear snippets of their conversations:

• "I don't even know who you are, where do you live?"
  
• "I feel like I am walking on air now."
  
• "Would this be good for a musician?" (Of course!!!!) 
  
• "I want to talk my roommates into trading regular hand massages!"
  
• "This might help me study better!"

Although I enjoyed teaching about massage and the benefits of touch, I most enjoyed getting to know my daughter's friends and interacting with them.

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