This column is about getting back to basics. And it doesn’t get more basic, yet more important, than evaluating your quality of touch. Regardless of the techniques you apply, how you touch your client while applying those techniques matters significantly.
To illuminate why being mindful of your quality of touch is so crucial, let’s begin by considering the significance of the skin as a sensory organ. Then, we’ll outline specific details that create an exceptional experience for your clients when it comes to receiving quality touch from you.
The Significance of Skin
Touch is often regarded as the “mother of all senses.” It’s the first sense to be developed in the human embryo and arises from the largest organ system of the body—the skin. In basic terms, the skin develops intimately alongside the nervous system in the ectoderm of the embryo, which is the outermost of the three embryonic layers and the covering of the embryonic body. It eventually gives rise to all the other senses as well—smell, taste, hearing, and vision. The skin, therefore, becomes the primary communication interface between the nervous system and its external environment, and touch is its first and native language.1
If there is discomfort, the body might not completely withdraw, but it also will not completely surrender. A state of surrender is where the greatest healing potential resides.
So, when we touch our clients, we are evaluated by their nervous system and responded to accordingly. How we touch our clients can profoundly affect how responsive they are to the specific techniques we apply. If there’s discomfort, uncertainty, or any sensation that feels unsafe, the nervous system will go into protective mode (keep in mind that the skin’s primary job is protection). The body might not completely withdraw, but it also will not completely surrender. A state of surrender is where the greatest healing potential resides. It is worth our effort, then, to provide the most open and available environment possible.
Intention, Attention, and Adaptation
How can we create the greatest environment of receptivity through our quality of touch? I propose that we approach this concept in three mindful ways: intention, attention, and adaptation.
Intention
Any time you touch your client, you must always have the intention of doing no harm. A couple of ways to communicate this include:
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As you begin every session, place your hands on the client for 5–10 seconds and hold a thought like, “I’m here to help. I’m here to soothe. I’m here to promote health/healing.” Even an unspoken intention of doing no harm will be perceived by the nervous system through your hands. You might choose to hold other intentions based on the client and their goals, but, at the very least, a brief pause while you introduce your touch (even in long-term clients) will open the body and assist it in letting down any guard it might have.
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As you apply strokes and techniques, always have a purpose in mind. Mindlessly applying strokes will be perceived as such. Have you ever been in a car with someone who is not fully paying attention as they drive? Even though they’ve likely driven thousands of times and have no accidents on their driving record, your nervous system will have its guard up. And guess what that involves? Your muscles! It’s really no different with your stroke and technique application. If you forget that the client prefers lighter touch on their legs and deeper touch on their shoulders, you could send them into a sympathetic response when you don’t alter your depth on their legs. Always have a purpose or intent for everything you do during a session. This is a significant part of offering your client exceptional quality of touch.
Attention
The importance of being attentive to every aspect of how your touch feels cannot be overstated. The hard part is that we don’t always know what our touch feels like. This is why it’s important to invite clients to communicate authentically and always tell you if they experience discomfort.
However, there are basic things you can attend to that will remove many less desirable qualities up front.
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Make sure your hands are warm. Introducing a cold touch can quickly cause the body to recoil and be unable to relax. Use a warm rice bag, heated gloves, or a hot towel to warm your hands. You can also run them under hot water before you enter the session. However, it’s also important to . . .
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Make sure your hands are dry. Have you ever shaken hands with someone whose hands were wet or clammy? How did it feel? What did it make you think? Wet or clammy hands don’t feel great. Plus, they are less likely to effectively engage the tissue.
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Make sure your fingernails and cuticles are trimmed and smooth. This avoids unintentional scratching. It’s also important to smooth down any calluses on your hands with a pumice stone.
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Maintain regular, continuous contact. Whether you are moving from one body part to the next, reapplying lubricant, or doing anything that might cause you to remove your hands from your client’s body, keep at least one hand touching them. When practitioners pick up their hands and then suddenly place them somewhere else, it promotes uncertainty, which the body will respond to. Remember, your client is lying down, (likely) unclothed, with their eyes closed. They should know where you are at all times.
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Notice nervous system responses. When you are attentive to your quality of touch and its effects, you will sense subtle and not-so-subtle responses, such as pushing back, flinching, and twitching, and can adapt accordingly.
Adaptation
This brings us to our last mindful way to enhance our quality of touch—adaptation. Some aspects to consider are:
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Ease into depth. Even if a client wants deep tissue, take your time getting there and drop in slowly. When you feel the body push back, either stop and hold until the body lets you in or immediately back off. This can best be determined by asking your client what they are experiencing and adapting accordingly.
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Apply the right amount of lubricant. If you apply too much, you’ll be slipping and sliding over the skin, which provides little therapeutic value and doesn’t feel that great either. On the other hand, applying too little lubricant can potentially cause a sticking and burning sensation. How much you use will be determined by the intent of the technique you are using, so assess this based on client goals and feedback.
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Allow your hands to follow the contour of the body. This requires soft, relaxed hands. Stiff, rigid fingers that don’t match the terrain of each individual client are less likely to produce positive results. Remember that the body is three-dimensional and every client is designed differently. So, for example, if your client is supine, don’t just apply strokes to the front of the leg in supine. Wrap the strokes around the medial, lateral, and posterior aspects too. Remind the body of its wholeness.
Details Matter
The skin and nervous system are always on high alert, whether we realize it or not. The slightest change in environment, be that temperature, pressure, movement, or other change in surroundings, can profoundly impact responsiveness and, therefore, therapeutic value. Always be mindful of the details. And never underestimate the value that the quality of your touch can provide.
Note
1. Ashley Montagu, Touching: The Human Significance of the Skin, 3rd ed. (Columbia University, 1986).
