Touching

TOUCHING EXERCISES
 Two Point Discrimination Obtain a pair of blunt compases. Open them so the points ; are about 3mm apart, with this gap you will probably be able to discriminate two points touching the skin of the fingertips, but if you now place the compases on the chest you can only feel one poke. Adjust the gap until you can feel two separate points. Measure this gap. In this way a chart may be made of the sensitivity of the skin in ditferent parts of the body. Having made a chart, repeat this exercise for a minimum often days, with rest, and see if there is any increase of sensitivity. What conditions change the sensitivity of the skin to touch? This exercise is best done if the compasses are placed on the skin by a helper, and the subject keeps hir eyes closed.

 Feeling Objects Spend 15-30 minutes exploring your room blindfolded. Be sure to make a good job of the blindfold, putting cotton wool pads over the eyelids if the contours of our face make it difficult to get a good seal. Identity objects by touch alone. Estimate the weight and dimension of various chosen objects, checking your guesses later. When an object you know well surprises you with the way it feels spends some time with it. Notice the exact position of fittings such as handles, relief design, identations, holes, robustness, flexibility, articulation etc. Gradually increase the speed and confidence with which you can move about the room. Repeat this exercise with rest, until you can move around your room with as much ease as if you were not wearing a blindfold. After a break of a week or so move on to a new venue, eg. garden or bathroom.

 Informational Massage We often associate touching each other as a demand for, or a move toward, having sex. This expectation can sometimes create a situation where the only time we get touched in just before sex, and sometimes we miss out on touching just for the pleasure of being touched and caressed. Re-establishing feelings of closeness, affection and trust can be done through massage that does not lead to sex.

Set aside some time to explore how where you like to touch and be touched.

With permission from a friend or partner, spend fifteen minutes stroking her or his body solely for your own pleasure. Ask the receiver to give feedback only if you cause discomfort or pain. Respect these limits.

Take a short break and then spend fifteen minutes touching your partner or friend for his or her pleasure. Ask for lots of feedback.

Is it easier for you to touch for your pleasure or the pleasure of another?

On another day, switch roles. Is it easier for you to give or receive?

From S.A.R. Sex Guide. with permission.

 Object Identification a. Procure many similar sized objects covering a range of basic forms. Arrange these on a table top. Wearing a blindfold, examine these by touch alone and without handlingthem. Become readily conversant with their different shapes, textures and details.

b. Ask a friend to present you with several surprise objects, which you touch in the same way, without handling. You are' sitting comfortably before a table, wearing a blindfold. Try to determine what the articles are. Objects might include, a wax candle, a turnip, a parsnip, a potato, a piece of clay, a lightbulb, an empty box of matches (household size), a hand torch, etc.

Repeat for ten days, with rest, and then note changes in perception.

 Weight Make or procure about a dozen wooden blocks, or tin or plastic boxes, of the same size. Now add hidden weights to the biocks in pairs, so they increase gradually in weight. Eg. 2 (empty) are Vz oz. approx., 2 are 1 oz., 2 are 1.5 oz., 2 are 2 oz., etc. The hidden weight may be plasticine, clay, lead etc. The weight should be marked inconspicuously on each block.

Now place the blocks, at random, on a table top. Blindfolded and using only one hand arrange the blocks into their similarly weighted pairs. Check and note results. The blocks are mixed up again, and rearranged using the other hand. Check and note results.

The blocks are mixed up again, and then re-arranged into their pairs using both hands alternately. Check and note results. Continue overten days, with rest. Note improvement.

The weight differences are then reduced eg. 1/2 oz, 3/4, 1, 1 1/4, 1 1/2 etc and perhaps in grammes. The exercise may also be usefully done with heavier weights eg. 1/2-20 kg.

 Head & Face Massage Relax your hands. Massage and shake them out until they feel tingly. Rub them together... fronts, backs and between the fingers.

Begin by slapping your scalp all over with loose wrist and limp fingers. Then massage the scalp using the fingertips. Think of tension being released in the back of the neck; as it releases it lengthens. Fingertip massage around the hairline. Stroke the forehead. Place the palms of the hands overthe eyes and imagine the eyelids sinking back deep into their sockets as they relax.

Massage the nose... Pinch the bridge of the nose on each outbreath for five breaths. Rest head onto thumbtips placed under the notches that you can feel in the inner top edge ofthe eye sockets. Massage gums. Brush the skin back from centre temple around to the ears. Continue this down the face pulling the skin back from the centre line in slow rythmic waves. Rub the palms up and down the sides of the face in opposing directions stretching the skin diagonally. Finally make wild face stretching grimaces including tongue poking.

This is a guide to start you off. As you discover new things about your face or new things to do with your face include them in your routine. Such simple pleasure can seem unworthy of the effort of self discipline and not functional enough to be included in the daily rituals of self-care. Nevertheless repeat daily for ten days with rest and note the effect. (sequence above derived from Tai Do practice.)

 Foot Massage Use your intuition and the diagram below. Concentration and sensitivity is essential.