Close your eyes for a moment and remember the last time
someone reached out to simply hold you – maybe with a little half-smile and a
hint of sensuality, to support and encourage you and maybe just because it felt
really nice… no agenda. (* NB if you can’t
remember or have never had this, it’s time to start changing the people you
hang out with!). Feel that lovely moment
of surrender and enjoyment again. Now, Recall
#2. Try to remember the last time
someone rudely grabbed your arm or shook your shoulder roughly to get your
attention. Or jabbed you hard in the
ribs. Or maybe they just shouted at you. Feel the difference in the way your whole being
responds between the first interaction and the second. The first interaction makes you almost want
to draw the person in through the pores of your skin to bring them closer,
whereas in the second interaction you bristle so fast that you energetically repel
them and probably snap back.
Now I want you to honestly consider how you approach your
skin. Do you slap products on to your skin determinedly and forcefully to try to make it
conform to an ideal of beauty? Do you
bully it? A hurried 5 mins given
begrudgingly cos you need results fast? Mutter
at your zits, wrinkles or stray hairs crossly in the mirror? Or do you quietly give your skin a gentle and
grateful touch when you use your products and clean your body?
Or maybe you’re a massage or spa therapist. Do you give mindful and generous touch when
you massage, or are you busy thinking about sen lines, thumb pressure, the
overdue phone bill or, Goddess forbid, what’s for lunch. Be honest.
Every cell in your body is alive and responds to
energy, to touch. The way you touch skin
changes the way it receives not only the healing touch but also the product you
apply.
Now imagine you have an innocent 11 month old baby hungrily
awaiting her dinner in her high chair.
Gurgling and banging the spoon in that oh-so-cute way. Imagine yourself feeding her some wholesome food
prepared with love, ever-so-mild and nutritious. Delicious but gentle. Baby gurgles, dribbles, smiles, receives and
digests your lovingly prepared meal. Everybody
happy. Or take #2. You smile and coo and then gently spoon into
baby’s mouth some strong flavoured, ultra spicy food that burns her mouth and
makes her cry, or some tuna that’s really for cats but it was cheap
and seems OK and the cat doesn’t have a problem with it so why should baby? You wouldn’t do that, would you?
The relationship between the quality of the touch skin
receives and the products we choose to use IS really important.
It doesn’t matter how delightful or natural the body or face
care product is, if it is slapped on hurriedly, begrudged or resented. If the touch is rough, uncomfortable and
perfunctory, the cells of the body literally recoil. It doesn’t matter how expensive the massage
oil or how many lovely essential oils it contains, if it is applied without
mindfulness, generosity or care. Conversely,
the best technical massage in the world is flawed if you’re using products known
to cause skin irritations, which contain harmful petrochemicals or which
contain artificial fragrances which are publicly documented to be seriously
harmful to long-term health but allowed under lax labeling laws.
Good natural skin health – for ourselves, our clients and our
customers – requires us to consider this complex relationship between the
quality of the touch and the nature of the product.
So now take yourself back to where we started – to that
gentle, supportive embrace that is so wonderful to receive. Remember it again and savor it for a
moment. When next you think skin care
for yourself, for clients or for massage, think natural and try to recreate
that feeling. Do no harm with your skin
care and massage products - to the environment or to the body which will
receive it. And learn to give yourself
over completely to the experience of quality touch, whether it’s 5 mins in the
privacy of your bathroom or during that slightly-rushed-pre-lunch massage that you need to deliver.
Enjoy the vibrant health and glowing skin that mindful touch
combined with simple, effective and natural products brings.
http://arunthainatural.com