No, not in THAT way.  Get your mind out of the gutter.  Well, that way too, but stay focused here.

Have you ever given yourself a neck massage or head massage or a foot massage?  It feels pretty good.  It’s a decent way to work out tension and loosen up.  But when someone else does it, it feels amazing!  There is something in our DNA that requires us to seek out physical contact.

And it’s not just humans.  Anyone that  has a pet knows that animals are the same.  I could pet my cat for hours and she will just sit and purr all day long.  And when I’m not petting her, she can often be found plopped down next to me with her back against my leg and literally straddling my arm.

The mere act of physical contact has been proven to lessen pain and reduce stress in most individuals.  I think that’s why so many people think that things like chiropractic work even though there has been tons of studies that it doesn’t work any better than placebo.  The needles do nothing.  There was a study that I can’t find the link for now that had half the people get normal chiropractic therapy and the other half someone pretending to put needles in random areas of the body and the results were exactly the same!  The human contact and social interaction with an individual willing to listen to your problems performs the miracles.

I’m sure that it has something to do with endorphins being released from contact or some such neurological cause, but does it really matter?  It feels good and it makes others feel good (when consentual).  So reach out and consentually touch some today!