There was, perhaps, a time when the only tool of healing was the human hand. And, to this very day, whenever we have an unfamiliar feeling in our body, the first thing we do is touch the area it is arising from and perform our simple, initial, diagnosis. Today, however, we hear advertising touting the touchless world we live in. How did we get here? And, is this where we want to be, or is there a better way? In this conversation, Aviv Shahar speaks with Jessica Wapner, who traces the arc of touch as a healing modality through the centuries, and how it has gradually been removed from our ever more standardized methods of healthcare. And then she gives us a peek into where we might go next. Join Aviv, as he dives deeper into this exploration.
There was, perhaps, a time when the only tool of healing was the human hand. And, to this very day, whenever we have an unfamiliar feeling in our body, the first thing we do is touch the area it is arising from and perform our simple, initial, diagnosis. Today, however, we hear advertising touting the touchless world we live in. How did we get here? And, is this where we want to be, or is there a better way?
In this conversation, Aviv Shahar speaks with Jessica Wapner, who traces the arc of touch as a healing modality through the centuries, and how it has gradually been removed from our ever more standardized methods of healthcare. And then she gives us a peek into where we might go next. Join Aviv, as he dives deeper into this exploration.
02:13 – Aviv introduces today’s guest, Jessica Wapner, who provides her thoughts on this inquiry exploration into The Role of Touch
04:31 – Wall Disease, explained
07:16 – The role of touch in healing and medicine
14:20 – The healing power of touch in the Bible
17:33 – The King’s Touch
23:09 – The rise of the Scientific Method
27:46 – The surge of advancements in medical science
31:16 – How touch impacts us as humans
37:23 – The introduction of ‘Wellness’
50:36 – What the future holds for touch
57:06 – Final points from Aviv and Jessica
1:00:30 – Aviv thanks Jessica for joining in this discussion today
“Wall Disease is multi-dimensional and expresses itself in different ways such as the feeling of being oppressed. When you see a wall near you every day, there’s a sense of – as one person I spoke with put it to me – ‘your life is being stopped here.’” (04:40)
“It seems that, from what I can piece together, there are references to touch coming from all over the world to do with the healing power of touch and what the hands are capable of doing.” (11:30)
“It’s almost a hard mindset to imagine that I can say that I’m sick. It’s up to me to say that there’s something wrong? I don’t need you, doctor, to confirm that. And that switches with the progression towards more and more technology where the doctor becomes the authority. And that’s what interested me in ‘The King’s Touch.’ There is this kind of thing through history where there is a person who has the capability to offer healing and I put myself in your hands.” (29:58)
“Doctors don’t call themselves healers, which is really interesting and weird if you stop and think about it. I never say, ‘I’m going to the healer today.’ But why wouldn’t I say that? Of course I want the doctor to heal me.” (36:56)
“So in the 1960s, the World Health Organization put out a statement about wellness that was more than not being sick – that wellness is about ‘Is your life progressing from one day to the next?’” (39:26)
“There’s an opening now for medicine and healing to stitch themselves back up together and for this rift to not be so dire.” (56:01)
Jessica’s Books: