Rub

Animals lick. Humans rub.

Rubbing prompts hormone and chemical release in the body and brain, which changes brainwave states, prompting a healing, self-soothing response. Oxytocin. Serotonin. Endorphins. Melatonin. Dopamine. Information for your organism. Rubbing your skin detoxes, lubricates, and optimizes your microbiome.¹

For emotional eaters, self-massage becomes a meal. Massage generates oxytocin, which decreases your appetite and belly fat and generates positive emotions. Touch is medicine. Self-touch heals self-loathing.

Your hands know how to heal.

Rub where it hurts.

Your hands are all you need.

If you want to go a bit further, cold-pressed oils can add to the benefits. Almond oil, sesame oil, coconut oil; essential oils like lavender, eucalyptus, rose, or pine bring a range of effects, such as reducing cortisol (stress hormones) and increasing the growth and development of nerve tissue, helping memory and elevating your mood. Just as with food, follow your nose with this. You know what you like, and what you're drawn to. The aromas that speak to you are the oils and essences your body needs.

To go primal faster, rub pee or fermented pee into your skin. When animals lick themselves, they mix their oral microbiome into their skin. Antibodies and all. Humans have historically rubbed urine into their skin for the same effect. Fermented or aged pee has anti-aging sex hormones, growth hormones, and stem cells.

Acne, eczema, dry skin, wounds not healing, basically, any skin issue, signals dysbiosis of the skin microbiome. Dysbiotic bacteria reproduce at the expense of eubiotic bacteria. See the image below comparing healthy skin microbiota diversity (A) with dysbiosis developing (B).²

As the population changes, tissue damage occurs. Below is an example of skin dysbiosis in the hair follicle that leads to scarring.

Urine therapy with a little panchagavya (see Eat Dirty) is the fastest way to reinstate a healthy skin microbiome. Urine has good bacteria that are assisted by the moisturizing and transport abilities of urea to penetrate the skin's multiple layers. If you have any skin issues or are in a healing crisis or deep detox, adding a small amount of panchagavya to urine or cold pressed oil will mix a diverse set of microbes in through your skin. This has a hydrating, detoxing effect that re-establishes healthy microbiota colonies (see Urine Therapy). Rather than rub soap or alcohol over your skin to disinfect yourself, check out how feeding your skin microbiome changes the health of your skin.³

If you have a dog, let it lick you. Your dog not only gives you a prosocial oxytocin hormone hit, but you also get beneficial bacteria like L. reuteri repopulating your skin. L. reuteri generates oxytocin in amounts large enough to reduce appetite for harmful foods, reduce inflammation and belly fat, and help you heal faster from injury. Yet, only 1 in every 20 people now has the L. reuteri species in their microbiome. So, if you have a healthy, outdoor dog, a good licking is a very good thing!⁴

Indy, my daughter, returns from the gym. She's out of whack from balance beam walkovers.

My mind is heavily into writing this book, buying buildings, being a boss. I brush her off.

The next few days are a blur of downhill skiing, online school, and gym practices. A few days later, she's a wreck. I look at her tongue. I hand her my phone and tell her to use the mirror. She sees the big crack in the second quarter of her tongue. I tell her we should check her thoracic spine. She remarks, "The tongue shows that?" I tell her, "The tongue is the map of the body and how it is at this moment." I wonder how she doesn't know this at 14, having come from my womb and growing up with me.

I have her lie on the thick rug and gently, yet firmly, push the heels of my hands parallel to her spine. Bottom to top. She's all tension. A little pop mid-back that hurts. I send her off to bathe and sweat. Then, back to lying belly down on my bed, I move her big trunk muscles, releasing her glutes and hips. I start again with the heels of my hands beside her spine, beginning at the root.

Two back ribs in the lower thoracic slip into place. I add spicy oil. Do it again. Further up, three more ribs slip into place. I rub her body with oil. I started this as a daily habit the day she was born. She is grown now, so this is a treat, it's so hard to get her to stop long enough to do it; and for me to take the opportunity, I guess. I joke that her body is more of an adult's than a kid's. I wonder at the slippery wormholes of time. I get to her legs. Skin is dry. I remind her that if she doesn't use her pee on her skin, she needs to use oil. She says, "I know."

I need to crack her toes. They're holding dead energy that won't let her neck release. She squirms. Ticklish. Oh grow up, I say. Use your breath to relax your nerves, or I can't release your neck. I've never won this battle.

Until today. She listens. She finds her breath. I crack her toes and prompt her to take a nap. She saunters off, the polarity in her spine rebalanced, no pain.

Rubbing awakens the primal intelligence in your hands to heal.

Start by rubbing yourself.

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Notes

1. Vera Morhenn, et al. "Massage Increases Oxytocin and Reduces Adrenocorticotropin Hormone in Humans." Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, vol. 18, no. 6, 2012, pp. 11–18.
2. Michael Brandwein, et al. "Microbial Biofilms and the Human Skin Microbiome." NPJ Biofilms and Microbiomes, vol. 2, 2016, p. 3. doi:10.1038/s41522-016-0004-z.
3. Jaime Piquero-Casals, et al. "Urea in Dermatology: A Review of Its Emollient, Moisturizing, Keratolytic, Skin Barrier Enhancing and Antimicrobial Properties." Dermatology and Therapy, vol. 11, no. 6, 2021, pp. 1905–15. doi:10.1007/s13555-021-00611-y.
4. Bernard J. Varian, et al. "Beneficial Dog Bacteria up-Regulate Oxytocin and Lower Risk of Obesity." Journal of Probiotics & Health, vol. 04, no. 03, 2017, p. 1000149. doi:10.4172/2329-8901.1000149.