09/17/2026
Not too long ago I was explaining to a male person that one of the reasons why I loved and appreciated dance so much is that it is one of the few places I can be touched by other people and be completely safe in it. Like I’d never go to a bar and let a person or people touch me there. I wouldn’t go to a grocery store or bank and touch someone there, but I could go to a dance and be touched in a very safe way and I think touch is literally healing.
This person kind of made fun of me, turning it into something more lascivious, and I tried explaining that wasn’t it at all, it’s literally that touch was healing to humans.
He didn’t believe me.
Guess I was right and science is showing up with the receipts.
Touch is healing and dance provides this day in and day out for me. It will do that for you too.
If you would like to benefit from being in a safe space, with safe people, doing an extremely fun and engaging activity, I know a place…..
www.dioamoredance.com
”In over 30 years, I've never seen something this powerful.”
Scientists show human touch is a potent biological medicine, capable of instantly calming the brain's threat centers and alleviating chronic pain, anxiety, and depression.
For decades, physical touch has been viewed as a comforting but non-essential part of human interaction. However, recent neurological breakthroughs have revealed that skin-to-skin contact is actually a critical biological mechanism deeply embedded in our neural architecture.
When we experience comforting touch, such as a brief hug or a reassuring hand on the shoulder, a rapid cascade of events occurs in the body: stress hormones like cortisol plunge, blood pressure drops, and specialized nerve fibers fire directly to signal safety to the brain's threat center.
Neuroscientists studying these effects have observed unprecedented drops in neural threat responsiveness, with some experts noting they have never seen a single stimulus so profoundly quiet the brain.
The implications of these findings are monumental, especially in an increasingly isolated digital age where 'touch hunger' is on the rise. A massive systematic review of over 212 studies involving more than 13,000 participants confirmed that touch interventions deliver substantial physical and mental health benefits, regardless of whether the contact comes from a loved one or a professional. From helping newborns regulate respiration to boosting immune function and cutting depression scores in clinical patients, deliberate physical connection is emerging as a powerful, drug-free therapy. Ultimately, incorporating simple, consensual physical gestures into our daily routines could be the cheapest and most effective way to protect our long-term health.
source: Cox, D. (2026). 'In over 30 years, I've never seen something this powerful': Experts have finally learned how the right human touch can transform your health. BBC Science Focus.
