Meditation #10 The Healing Touch of Human Hands

Meditation #10 The Healing Touch of Human Hands

This is truly a topic where life has revealed its secrets to me in powerful ways. It began when I volunteered as a teen at an adoption house. It was a setting where I was supposed to teach children to read and write, but something powerful drew me to the neonatal wing, where Sister Nora, who took me under her wing eagerly, told me that what those babies needed more than anything, was to be held. The ones who did not make it did simply lacked enough holding, caressing and human contact. I remember feeling so useful, so important, so loved, by holding those tiny bodies, some so light that they managed to hold no heat of their own, requiring the “kangaroo” treatment, being held close to my body and inside my clothing, in a ready-made pouch of love. Some of those babies had been left in plastic bags at the door of the adoption house, discarded like trash, but only those who were held survived. That is the power of the Human touch.

I also remember watching a movie that was brutal in its sincerity, “Life as a House”, in which a man with an illness of the soul more severe than his illness of the body was hugged by a nurse and literally dissolved in helplessness and relief, realizing how long he had not felt the power of human contact, how desperate, how utterly lost he had become without the warmth of a caring human hand communicating love to him.

Within the American culture, I was told not to hug too much or dare to touch my student’s hair, as they loved for me to do, since it could be seen in the wrong way. I grieved for a society where touch has become associated with threat, but life in its mysterious ways reminded me that Truth does not remain hidden for long. 

About three years ago, I was led to discover Reiki, the therapy that heals with human hands. I was told all about its ancient origins and its carefully detailed technique, and though I respect its method, at its core, I believe that its life-changing effects reside in the simple act of total surrender to other’s hands, to the healing energy provided by the will of someone who cares enough to touch your skin and desires to help you realign your body, your mind and your soul, reminding you that you are tremendously loved, important and unique. Perhaps what those hands are in fact doing is allowing us to rewind to those first months of life when we were held, touched and fed by the human hands of those who cared for us.

During this week, look back with gratitude in search for all of those who have fed your being with the magic of touch. There may have been pain in some of the contacts you experienced, but focus on the love you have received, the powerful embraces, the relief of holding a hand when you felt helpless, a kiss of delight at the sight of you, the group hug of good friends offering support, the invisible one offered by a voice in the distance or a message of care within the power of new media. Inhale this healing power and venture with your own hands to heal those who might need a hug, a kiss, a warm hand on their back, reassuring them you have their back and reminding them that you love them and can feed them with your powerful human touch.

With a hug and a kiss,

Lina.