Is there anything more important than touching and kissing? A human’s first affectionate bonds are built through the senses.

A hug, a caress, a kiss… LOVE fosters a baby’s neurological development. It is interesting to think that something as simple as physical contact plays such an important role in our wellbeing, not only when we are born, but for our future. Growing up in an environment of affection and love helps us to build strong emotional pillars and solid self-esteem, valuable tools for facing life and all its ups and downs: from dealing with human relationships to fighting a disease. When you receive love you are happy, you feel like you can do anything; you are filled with confidence and positivity.

It seems that it is much easier to show gentleness, compassion and tenderness through touch towards a baby or a child. Why do we sometimes find it difficult to show physical affection towards adults? I am a touchy-feely person. It helps me to perceive details of the personality and energy of the person I am directing it towards, discover subtleties that are ignored in verbal communication. If you are like me, how many times have you come across someone who tenses up when you hug them?

Relaxing about physical contact, opening ourselves up to others and unlearning patterns that block us does us the world of good, because we are social beings and a lot of our wellbeing is in our state of mind. Receiving caresses and hugs, kissing or making love awaken pleasant reactions and stimuli in our body. The body translates these actions into the release of pleasure-inducing chemical substances; that is why we feel the need to access them. They make us feel good, they make us happy.

Talking about affection… I remember how, when I used to spend long periods travelling far from my loved ones, and meeting new fashion teams for work on an almost-daily basis, I used to appreciate the “caresses” of make-up artists and hairdressers who touched me when applying my make-up or doing my hair. In some way, that contact creates a certain intimacy. Maybe this is why it creates affective bonds within the hair&makeup team and models, although they could be ephemeral, they’re beautiful and comforting.

Giving and receiving affection is another essential need. So let’s touch and kiss each other while we can and do it consciously, with determination and meaning.

V.