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Areas › Your body › Touch and bodywork
That matters if you are the kind of person who suspects their own good moods, or if you have to make a case to a colleague who wants numbers. It also gives you somewhere to look other than your mood: a slower resting pulse, sleeping through, hands that are warm again. Slow indicators, but harder to argue with than a self report.
The Scripture is said to be one 'that causes the skins of those in awe of their Lord to shiver' (Quran 39:23). The body registering a change before anyone talks about it is an old observation.
الزمر
ٱللَّهُ نَزَّلَ أَحۡسَنَ ٱلۡحَدِيثِ كِتَٰبࣰ ا مُّتَشَٰبِهࣰ ا مَّثَانِيَ تَقۡشَعِرُّ مِنۡهُ جُلُودُ ٱلَّذِينَ يَخۡشَوۡنَ رَبَّهُمۡ ثُمَّ تَلِينُ جُلُودُهُمۡ وَقُلُوبُهُمۡ إِلَىٰ ذِكۡرِ ٱللَّهِۚ ذَٰلِكَ هُدَى ٱللَّهِ يَهۡدِي بِهِۦ مَن يَشَآءُۚ وَمَن يُضۡلِلِ ٱللَّهُ فَمَا لَهُۥ مِنۡ هَادٍ
God has sent down the most beautiful of all teachings: a Scripture that is consistent and draws comparisons; that causes the skins of those in awe of their Lord to shiver. Then their skins and their hearts soften at the mention of God: such is God’s guidance. He guides with it whoever He will; no one can guide those God leaves to stray
Qur’an 39:23read it in the library
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.
In a randomised trial, couples given oxytocin by nasal spray before a conflict discussion showed more positive communication and lower cortisol afterwards. Measurable hormonal change tracking with how people behaved is exactly the sort of evidence being described here. It was a drug study, so it demonstrates that the pathway exists rather than that any particular practice moves it.
Ditzen B, Schaer M, Gabriel B, Bodenmann G, Ehlert U, Heinrichs M. (2009). Intranasal oxytocin increases positive communication and reduces cortisol levels during couple conflict.. Biological psychiatry doi
Strength of evidence: one line of research. A single study, or a theoretical account.
These practices act on the body directly, so the body shows the change whether or not you notice it.
Rest both hands on your chest, feel it lift and fall, and let the breath go low enough that your belly moves too. If someone you love turns up in your mind while you do it, let them stay.
Sometimes eyes water during body work with no sad thought attached to it. Nothing has gone wrong, and there is nothing that needs explaining.
Tapping pairs light contact on acupressure points with saying the trouble out loud. The claims made for it run ahead of the evidence, and it is cheap, quick and safe enough to try.