Craving Human Touch During Isolation? Try This.

Does the plague have you going nuts craving human touch that you can’t have? If so, I totally get it. This can be a time for you to practice mindful touching of other living beings, so that when the plague finally does go away, you are going to enjoy touching human beings that much more.

So, in the meantime, find a living being that you don’t have to worry about potentially infecting or being infected by. For instance, a tree, flower or animal.

Take a minute to observe your beautiful living being.

Think about how this living being is connected with all of the living beings that came before it, and the entire universe that came before it and is here now and will be here in the future.

Think about the rain, without which this being would not have water. Think about the sun shining on this being. Think about all the animals and people who have interacted with this living being . Think about all of the ways that your living being is connected with every other living being in the whole universe.

And then take a moment to observe just how beautiful it is in its own way. Get curious about what you see about all of the different shadows and textures and nooks and crannies and expanses, of your living being.

Get curious about all of the different qualities that you may notice. And the more specific you get in your mind, and the more curious you get, the better.

Then when you feel calm in your own body and properly appreciative of this amazing living being, approach your being gently. See how soon you can feel the tiniest bit of feeling on the tiniest bit of your skin.

Then see if you can even feel before your fingers touch the living being? What do they notice? What do they notice about the textures? What do they notice about themselves? What do you notice about yourself, as you touch?

Can you feel the aliveness of this living being as you touch it? Are different parts of it different? What happens if you touch it differently? Do you feel different textures? If you close your eyes, can you feel the different colours? If you picked a plant, can you feel the sap rising up through it and shooting its energy out through its leaves into the air and drawing energy in from the air?

What else can you feel?

When you’re done, take a moment to thank your living being for allowing you to touch it and have this brief experience with it. Take a few deep breaths, come back to yourself, and think about what you learned.

Enjoy!