One Touch From You And My Soul Restarts

A caress from the loved one has the power to restart our soul. It is like the warm sound of an ocean waving in placid sensations through our body, extinguishing fears, crossing the recesses of uncertainties to merge borders between what is mine and what is yours. Because there are caresses that heal and wise hands that caress the skin to reach the soul.

The art of caressing requires, above all, that we be good craftsmen of the emotional world. Because, believe it or not, this music of the senses and pleasures has its baton in the brain. It is he who tells us which person has the right to caress us and he who processes what kind of caresses are the ones that bring us greater well-being.

Something curious that we should take into account is that our DNA already encodes that need for physical contact to survive as a species. A newborn, for example, cannot mature in a healthy way if it is not caressed, hugged, rocked. We too, when we reach adulthood, need these affectionate gestures to strengthen the bond with our loved ones.

Stroking is not just an art intended for physical pleasure. Stroking is an act of reaffirmation and belonging, a bond that is established from the senses to give security to our brain. We invite you to reflect on it.

The daily caress that your brain demands

In an interesting and comprehensive article published in the magazine “Psychology Today”, love was defined in a very correct way:  love is the search for a secure and enriching connection with another being. Through this bond, people are emotionally bonded to nurture, calm fears, and protect each other.

All of us, since we are born, have that need to build safe relationships, where displays of affection are the unequivocal expression of those feelings. It is here where a caress always stands as a type of language with a power capable of transcending words to penetrate the skin and the senses. This strengthens the bond and the brain gratifies us with a good dose of endorphins.

Now … What happens in this neural context when there is lack of caresses or lack of physical contact of the loved one? We can summarize it in two very clear ideas:

• When there is no emotional expressiveness, when a member of the couple does not receive signs of affection, caresses or hugs, a “disconnection” occurs and the brain goes into a panic.

• This lack of attachment, expressed in physical contact and emotional words, generates loneliness and, in turn, a complex stress situation that the mind understands at first as a threat. The lack of caresses is a lack of reaffirmation of love. It is a deep void in the soul that the brain translates into the form of stress.

The art of knowing how to caress

Now we know that the sentinel that guides and illuminates the pleasure of a caress and who claims it as a daily food, is the brain. So it is not enough to “touch”, it is necessary to know how to seduce and reaffirm the bond, because the physical contact that generates well-being, pleasure and security must be offered by someone significant who, in turn, is a good craftsman of the emotional world.

The skin is a minefield of five million nerve endings, and that is something fascinating, because it opens up a whole map to discover, what to attend to and what to activate. For this reason, we are sure that you will like to discover what are those mechanisms capable of generating the most pleasant caresses, those that restart our soul.

The fascinating map of our skin connects with our emotions

The brain reacts amazingly to touch. It is something so pure, instinctive and almost magical that it makes us understand from a very young age that a crying face can be soothed with hugs. That worries are alleviated with caresses and that a pat on the shoulder or back gives us closeness and encouragement.

According to an article published in “The Journal of Neuroscience”  a caress is like a score for our brain, and depending on who offers it to us and in what context, it will trigger one emotion or another.

• The most pleasant caresses at the partner level are those offered at 1.3 and 10 centimeters per second. A subtle and perfect cadence that activates the so-called “mechanoreceptors”, which send a resounding message to the brain: that of pleasure.

• The brain allows us to “connect” with people through touch. A caress is also an emotional detector of fear, desire or sadness. The reason for this is due to the insula, a deep region of the brain that is key in the emotional universe.

An undoubtedly fascinating subject that reminds us of the importance of practicing this science every day for which doctorates are not needed. The mastery of caresses is something that is always at our fingertips.