“Nothing is so healing as the human touch.”
– Bobby Fischer
Touch is so powerful that simply being touched by another person can trigger a cascade of chemical responses in our bodies that relieve stress and pain; create feelings of security, happiness, and comfort; enhance the immune system; decrease blood pressure; and improve blood sugar levels.
If you want to quickly increase your presence then high-five someone! It tells the other person, while at the same time validating them, that “Hey, I’m here and I’m picking you to help make an impact!”. Unfortunately, studies show that Americans are significantly less likely to touch one another when compared to people from other countries. Interestingly, people in Paris, the Mediterranean, and Puerto Rico touch one another the most. I’m not surprised Americans end up low on the touching list; it seems we are borderline touch-a-phobic. Alcohol hand sanitizer flies off the shelves at our pharmacy, and customers complain if I don’t have some available at the register for them to use after touching something that other customers had recently placed their hands on. The silver lining is that with this reluctance to engage in physical contact, knowing how to use touch can be your secret weapon for relationships.