It's OK To Speak With Your Hands

Using ones hands to perform a task is something most of us do without thinking about it.  As a nurse, my hands not only perform tasks, my hands also communicate.

How I touch, hold a hand, support a limb signals to the other person whether I am a threat, whether something will hurt more than usual, and if I am being careful.  Touch also conveys reassurance, confidence, knowledge, caring, and hope.  If I loose focus, that loss is felt at the other end of my fingertips by the person I am touching almost immediately.

Touch is that sensitive.

Often, I will scratch child's head at work with my fingers as I walk by them in the hall.  That touch speaks to them.  When talking to a parent about their child, I will often reach out and touch their forearm, or shoulder, when our conversation is done.  That small touch, my words, and our eye contact can do a great deal in reassuring them..

When done right, touch is important symptom of our human condition.

Touch can also be misinterpreted as countless office law suits will tell you.  When done at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons, to the wrong person, touch can elicit negative feelings as strong as the positive ones. Inappropriate touching is not good, and one has to keep the "Laws of Boundaries" in mind at all time.

For something so simple, touch is very powerful.

Last week I was pleasantly surprised to see a news report on Channel 5 about just how powerful touch can be.  You may want to check out the video yourself on You Tube.  (Click here for video)

We say so much through our hands, and touch is something understood no matter what language you speak. As the video shows, touch is understood even by those that know longer understand things in the world around them.  It is primal, and basic, and we should be more aware of its power, not ignoring it.

If done for the right reasons, wonderful things can be done through touch.  The video is proof of that.

Amazing what it can do.