The Art of Mindful Touch

My friend Irene Smith is an extraordinary healer. She practices the art of mindful touch with the dying and  frail elders. I first met her at Zen Hospice, and now I get to see her in action at AgeSong where I work. 

Tonight, she wrote a beautiful piece in her blog about 'Cultivating Presence in the Touch Relationship'. I encourage you to read the whole article. 

Tonight, I am taking those words from Irene, and storing them into my heart:

I have to trust what I feel in my heart, what I sense through my body and trust my ability to assess clearly from this current information. I also have to trust that the person I am touching will receive my touch in the wisdom in which it is delivered, and with eyes open, I have to trust in the moment. Cultivating trust is the way to cultivating presence in the touch relationship.

Mindful touch.  Yet another mindfulness practice, this time about touching the body, and the heart.