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Areas › Your body › Touch and bodywork
Once you know it, you can arrange for it: a heavier duvet, a firm rather than gentle massage, sitting with your back against something solid, pressing your palms hard into your thighs while you wait for an appointment. Say it out loud to anyone working on you, since most will default to light strokes. Preference here is information, not fussiness.
Among God's provisions the Qur'an lists 'furnishings and comfort for a while from their wool, fur, and hair' (Quran 16:80). Physical comfort is named plainly as a blessing, so arranging yours is not an indulgence.
النحل
وَٱللَّهُ جَعَلَ لَكُم مِّنۢ بُيُوتِكُمۡ سَكَنࣰ ا وَجَعَلَ لَكُم مِّن جُلُودِ ٱلۡأَنۡعَٰمِ بُيُوتࣰ ا تَسۡتَخِفُّونَهَا يَوۡمَ ظَعۡنِكُمۡ وَيَوۡمَ إِقَامَتِكُمۡ وَمِنۡ أَصۡوَافِهَا وَأَوۡبَارِهَا وَأَشۡعَارِهَآ أَثَٰثࣰ ا وَمَتَٰعًا إِلَىٰ حِينࣲ
It is God who has given you a place of rest in your homes and from the skins of animals made you homes that you find light [to handle] when you travel and when you set up camp; furnishings and comfort for a while from their wool, fur, and hair
Qur’an 16:80read it in the library
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.
Research on the orbitofrontal cortex shows that pleasant touch is represented there in terms of its reward value, in the same territory as taste and the sight of a face. How pleasant a touch is turns out to be a real, tracked quality, not a matter of politeness. That work does not compare deep pressure with light touch or speak to attention difficulties.
Rolls ET, Grabenhorst F. (2008). The orbitofrontal cortex and beyond: from affect to decision-making.. Progress in neurobiology doi
Strength of evidence: one line of research. A single study, or a theoretical account.
Steady deep pressure is the input that turns the volume down for a lot of restless nervous systems.
Most people are already doing something for themselves outside your room: herbs, a chiropractor, breathing videos, a weekly massage. Ask, plainly and without a raised eyebrow.
Let the corners of your mouth lift about as much as they would if you had just remembered something mildly pleasant. Not a smile anybody would notice.
Regular massage has been studied with restless, distractible children and teenagers, and their teachers noticed the difference in class as well as the young people noticing it in themselves.