The Power of Touch

Touch is the most primal and powerful of the senses. When it is good - when it is nurturing and loving - it’s ability to heal can be monumental.  It works wonders.

When I was gravely ill with AIDS, I suffered one loss after another. Neuropathy in my feet meant I could no longer drive, then wasting took away my ability even to walk. Side effects from drugs caused ringing in my ears and sight loss… but one thing remained as tangible as ever: touch. When everything else was failing, touch was the miracle worker that brought the world back to me.

Many was the time I arrived at the massage therapist’s, a jumble of nerves, beset by worry. As I shed my clothes and got on that table, though, the world started to fade. With the first touch of his (or her) hands, my troubles disappeared as I surrendered my earthly cares for a little bit of heaven. In those days, I was often so stressed when I showed up that I would fall asleep on the table – maybe the only hour of truly profound sleep I’d had all week. The transformation that touch could bring about in just an hour amazed me – and still amazes me.

I believe in the revitalizing power of touch to heal us physically, emotionally and spiritually and I urge you to support me and Positive Being in the practice of this belief.

Bringing touch to those with HIV is our way of supporting our community. Touch is so fundamental, especially when we’re young, because it’s how we learn to defend ourselves – how we learn not to burn or bruise or puncture ourselves. Studies show that babies and small children who get lots of touch thrive; they have a sense of security.

As adults, we need touch, too, although it’s not common to admit it in our culture. Without the loving touch of another, we can feel defenseless without knowing why. We tend to feel vulnerable and isolate ourselves from the outside world. We don’t thrive.

I know this from personal experience. Over a decade ago, during the worst of the epidemic, I felt vulnerable, isolated and, like so many of us, untouchable. But then getting massage regularly led to seeking out touch from others, exchanging touch with others, and finally becoming a massage therapist myself. Now I gladly give touch to others, as do all our volunteers, in hopes of healing and empowering those whom HIV has left feeling insecure, isolated and defenseless.

Over the last nine years, we’ve seen how touch has brought our clients back to their own bodies and a renewed self of self, helping them relate to other and re-engage with the community. We, like our clients, have experienced the healing power of touch.