INTIMACY, CLOSENESS & TOUCH
DISCLAIMER
*Please notice that even though there are many beneficial and curative effects of the Bardot Massage™ within all aspects of life,
it cannot replace a medical treatment. Any content on or relating to this website is not to be considered medical advice. If you have physical or mental problems, I strongly recommend that you always consult a physician or your doctor. I am not here to provide you with therapies to overcome your sexual trauma, fix your relationships, etc. The loving touch and care you are going to receive from me and the session can make you feel better (and surely will), but I cannot heal your clinical depression, anxiety, or an insomnia. I am not a physician nor a doctor. I am a certified massage therapist and a yoga teacher, but here for you offering my art "only" as an artist. Thank you for understanding.
SEX IS EVERYWHERE IN TODAY'S WORLD.
THERE ARE MANY MEANS TO FULFILL YOUR SEXUAL DESIRES AND LUST.
BUT WHAT ABOUT CLOSENESS? INTIMACY?
INTIMACY IS THE FEELING OR ATMOSPHERE OF CLOSENESS AND OPENNESS TOWARDS SOMEONE ELSE, NOT NECESSARILY INVOLVING SEXUALITY. INTIMACY IS THE MAGIC THAT TURNS TWO PEOPLE INTO A SINGLE EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL ENTITY WITHIN THEIR SEXUAL EXPERIENCE. IT IS THE ESSENCE OF ROMANCE. INTIMACY CAN BE DESCRIBED AS A FEELING OF BEING DEEPLY KNOWN, TOTALLY ACCEPTED, AND SECURELY HELD.
TOUCH IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT PART OF BEING HUMAN. HUMANS ARE WIRED TO BE TOUCHED. FROM BIRTH UNTIL THE DAY WE DIE, OUR NEED FOR PHYSICAL CONTACT REMAINS. HUMAN BEINGS NEED THE KIND OF NOURISHMENT THAT TOUCH BRINGS, WE NEED LOVE AND HUMAN CONTACT, WE NEED TO FEEL SEEN AND ACCEPTED. WE NEED CARING. WE NEED TO KNOW THAT WE ARE NOT ALONE. THROUGH TOUCH WE ARE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE SUCH PROFOUND THINGS. HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT JUST HOW MUCH BEING TOUCHED CAN BENEFIT FOR YoUR HEALTH?
I DO BELIEVE THAT THE WHOLE MAGIC IS ABOUT BEING CONSCIOUS. CONSCIOUS ABOUT KNOWING THAT I AM NOT ONLY TOUCHING YOU "HAND TO BACK" WITH SOME STROKES BUT I AM TOUCHING YOU CONSCIOUSLY WITH MY ENTIRE BEING, FULLY PRESENT IN THE MOMENT AND I WOULD LOVE TO MAKE YOU TO RECEIVE MY TOUCHES IN THE SAME WAY. CONSCIOUSLY. FULLY.
AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE POWER OF TOUCH IS ESSENTIAL.
I could write an essay about this topic and about TOUCH generally, but I assume you are not here for articles. Yet I made it short for those of you, who might wanna hear more about TOUCH and its EFFECTS.
CONSCIOUS TOUCH
There is a big difference between conscious touch and “doing something” while your head is somewhere else and filled with random thoughts. It doesn’t have the same impact or create the same soul intimacy. Conscious touch is a sacred art, an expression of the heart. It means to be fully present with another human being, fully present in each movement. Conscious touch connects us with our profound emotions, it can express affection and acceptance, give sublime pleasure, provide caring, comfort and support. Conscious touch is also deeply related with sacred eroticism, it helps us step out of our ordinary state of consciousness and by bringing awareness to the erotic energy and lifting it up in the body, we become profoundly relaxed and ecstatic at the same time.
Conscious touch and profound emotional intimacy are the best way to satisfy your skin hunger.
SKIN HUNGER & TOUCH DEPRIVATION
Touch and intimacy are genuine and profound human needs, we need it just like we need to eat and to sleep, but often we don’t recognize our skin hunger for what it is, we don’t take it as serious as we would, if we hadn’t eaten in three days. We just feel that something is not quite right.
Being Touch Starved — also known as Skin Hunger or Touch Deprivation — occurs when a person experiences little to no touch from other living things. And of course this does not apply only to sensual touch. Especially during the pandemic, many people have lost the basic social touch which led to result in feelings of touch starvation. For some, the pandemic has also brought a decline in sensual touching.
If we suffer from touch deprivation then we will also see the appearance of “deficiency diseases”, initially felt as a deep emotional need and reduced quality of life, but skin hunger can even generate physiological problems. If touching helps keep a person healthy and happy, then lack of it can literally make people sick.
TOUCH AND HORMONES
Skin-to-skin contact is vital not only for mental and emotional health but physical health, too. When you feel snowed under or pressured, the body releases the stress hormone cortisol. One of the biggest things touch can do is to reduce such stress, allowing the immune system to work the way it should.
Our skin is our largest organ with a surface area of 1.5 m2. When we give and receive touch, our body is producing oxytocin, also known as the “love hormone”; a hormone which reduces stress and creates the feeling of connection, relaxation, contentment, happiness and security. Even hugging for just 20 seconds will release oxytocin in your body. A gentle touch can reduce both pain and feelings of loneliness.
Being touched also triggers neurotransmitters such as dopamine, which regulates pleasure and serotonin, which is often associated with feelings of well-being and happiness.
Touch stimulates pressure receptors under the skin, which carries signals to the vagus nerve that connects the brain with the rest of the body. The vagus nerve uses these signals to make our nervous system relax, lower the heart rate and blood pressure and dampen the activity of the stress hormone, cortisol. When you don’t give and receive enough touch, then the vagus nerve doesn’t calm the body to lower the heart rate and blood pressure; cortisol with its immune-destroying power is not kept in check; and serotonin and dopamine do not kick in to regulate our mood and emotional state.