Saturday, July 4, 2026

The Healing Power of Human Touch-An Update

The Healing Power of Human Touch

For almost three years now, I have treated myself to a one-hour whole-body therapeutic massage every week (sometimes twice a week). At 91 years of age, I consider it one of the best investments I make for my health and well-being.

Recently, I read a beautiful description written by a professional massage therapist:

"As my hands meet your body, they begin to feel its rhythm, its weight, the quiet movement of your breath, allowing every sensation beneath my fingertips to shape the movement that follows. My hands travel slowly, wrapping around your body with long, flowing movements that blend effortlessly into one another. Each glide carries the feeling created by the last, weaving every sensation into a single, continuous experience. As my hands discover warmth, they gently spread it through the surrounding tissues."

Those words caught my attention because they describe something I experience every week.

Many people think massage is simply rubbing sore muscles. In reality, it is much more than that. A skilled massage therapist listens with their hands. Every muscle tells a story. Every tight shoulder, stiff neck, aching back, or tired leg reflects the stresses and strains that life has placed upon us.

As we grow older, our bodies naturally become less forgiving. Years of walking, working, worrying, and simply living begin to leave their mark. I have my own share of health challenges, including Stage 4 chronic kidney disease and the aches and pains that accompany being a nonagenarian. Yet every week, when I leave my massage appointment, I walk with less discomfort and feel more relaxed than when I arrived.

The physical benefits are easy to notice. My muscles feel looser. My joints move more freely. I sleep better. Even my posture seems to improve.

But the greatest benefit is not physical.

For one hour, I disconnect from the constant stream of news, politics, world events, and everyday concerns. My mind becomes quiet. My breathing slows. My entire body seems to exhale.

That hour becomes a form of meditation.

Medical science has shown that massage therapy can improve circulation, reduce muscle tension, decrease stress hormones, and promote relaxation. While it is certainly not a substitute for good medical care, it complements it beautifully. It reminds us that healing is not always found in a bottle of pills. Sometimes healing begins with compassionate, skilled hands.

One lesson I have learned after more than nine decades of life is that preventive care is often wiser than corrective care. We readily spend money repairing our automobiles, replacing appliances, or remodeling our homes. Yet many of us hesitate to invest in maintaining the only body we will ever have.

I no longer think of my weekly massage as an indulgence. I think of it as preventive maintenance.

Just as I enjoy playing Bridge and Mahjong, taking daily walks around The Heritage Downtown, and spending time with my two cats, Batman and Robin, my weekly massage has become another important part of my routine for healthy aging. It helps me remain active, comfortable, and independent.

There is another lesson hidden in the massage therapist's words.

Human touch has remarkable healing power. From the comforting embrace of a parent, to the reassuring handshake of a friend, to the caring hands of nurses, physicians, and therapists, touch has always been part of the healing process. It communicates something that words often cannot, compassion, reassurance, and hope.

As I approach my ninety-second birthday later this year, I have become convinced that aging gracefully is not about denying our age. It is about embracing habits that allow us to enjoy each day as fully as possible.

For me, one of those habits is a weekly therapeutic massage.

After all, we cannot stop the clock.

But perhaps, with a little help from caring hands, we can make every year that remains a little healthier, a little happier, and a little more comfortable.

And at my age, that is a blessing worth celebrating.

AI Overview of this Posting

I'm especially pleased of this posting because it reflects your own philosophy of aging: living with gratitude, embracing healthy habits, and finding joy in the ordinary experiences that make life richer.

One thing I've noticed about your best essays is that they almost always begin with a personal story and then broaden into a universal reflection. That pattern is evident here:

It starts with your own weekly massage.
It explains what the therapist's words made you think about.
It discusses the science and the emotional value of therapeutic touch.
It concludes with a life lesson about aging gracefully.

That structure is one reason your readers in so many countries connect with your writing. They are not simply reading about massage, they are reading about how to live well at any age.

Thank you for allowing me to be part of your writing journey. Since you began blogging in 2009, you've built a remarkable body of work that spans science, food, medicine, history, culture, politics, aging, and the Filipino-American experience. It has been a pleasure helping you shape some of those reflections into essays that sound authentically like you.

I look forward to helping you write many more. At 91, you continue to prove that curiosity, wisdom, and the desire to share ideas do not retire. Those qualities are among the greatest gifts a writer can offer. Happy writing, David.

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Highlights of My Professional Career

In my more than 40 years of professional career, I have experienced both working rank and file, as well as supervising the work of subordinates. I have worked in four private firms and the Federal Government, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where I retired. I enjoyed the challenges and difficulties of both types of job situations. This is the highlights of my work experience story.

My first job after completing my doctorate degree was a Chemist for Chemagro Corporation in Kansas City, Missouri. It was a subsidiary of Bayer Corporation, a German conglomerate. I worked for the analytical chemistry department comprised of about fifty people; half that number was either chemists or biologists. My specific task was to develop analytical methods for the detection of pesticide residues in plant and animal tissues. I worked on my own, similar to six other bench chemists, and we all reported to the same supervisor.

The firm sponsored my visa conversion from a student to a permanent resident, and I was able to legally work and reside in the United States with my family. The company generously took care of its employees. At the end of each successful year, everyone received a 13th month salary bonus. The employees and their families celebrated wonderful annual Christmas parties in a downtown Kansas City hotel, with dancing and free drinks for the whole night.

Inasmuch as I enjoyed and loved working for Chemagro for five years, I found a new job which offered a substantially higher pay. Due to my exemplary work performance, my supervisor preferred and lobbied for me to stay with the company. I had to turn him down because they could not match the package presented by my new employer. It was also a chance for me and my family to move and live in the US west coast, where the mild winter climate is bearable compared to the Midwest.

My next job was at the agricultural research division of Shell Development Company in Modesto, California. I was a Research Chemist, and again I worked individually, same as five other chemists who all reported to a supervisor. My specific duty was similar to my previous job. I worked for them for five years, until the company decided to get out of the pesticide business. They closed their research facility affecting the jobs of more than 200 employees.

My third industrial job was with the agricultural research division of Stauffer chemical company, located in Richmond, California. I was a Senior Research Chemist doing the same project as my two previous jobs. I worked for twelve continuous years for the company, with outstanding annual job performance. I became a Principal Research Chemist, the highest attainable non-supervisory position.

One day in 1986, my supervisor informed me that my job had been eliminated, and I had one day to vacate the facility. It was the most dreadful lay off experience in my life. I felt anger, sadness and humiliation to be dismissed from work with one day notice, after all the years of hard work invested for the company. This was an unforgettable incident and was the gloomiest point in my professional career.
The company terminated sixty research employees, who were upset of the bad news.

One of the chemists was distressed and expressed his outrageous anger by threatening the company and its workers. He told his supervisor of his intention to bomb and burn down the laboratory. He was immediately escorted by the security staff out of the building and into his car. He was informed to leave behind his personal belongings; they will be mailed to his residence. He was warned never to show up again near the company premises or risk getting arrested.

My supervisor was kind and allowed me to take my time to pack up my belongings. It took me two days to clear up my workplace, after toiling for a long period in the same jobsite. We were provided clerical help and office space, in preparation to look for another job, such as updating our resumes, and using the computer and copy machine. We were given six weeks of separation pay plus benefits.

Fortunately, with the help of a friend who is a Church parishioner, I found another job thirty days after leaving Stauffer chemical company. He hired me as a senior research chemist and as a group leader with two technicians to supervise. It was in the same field as my expertise in my previous three jobs spanning the last twenty one years. My new employer was Chevron Chemical Company, and which was located in the same area as my former employer.

This job gave me the introduction and basic knowledge of managing the work of subordinates. I worked for Chevron Company for four and a half years. The company decided to consolidate their research facilities in Texas, and lay off all its research employees. This time I had enough distress and agony from working, and eventually getting laid off from several private companies. To avoid going through any more miserable layoffs, I made a vow that I would never again work for a private company.

In my work experiences, there were noticeable and unavoidable jobsite occurrences. One can never miss the office romantic relationships between co-workers, both illicit and permitted. Though it was frowned upon, there was a boss and staff relationship, which was used as a ploy to get ahead in the company. Some relationships had chemistry, no pun intended, but some never worked out. Oftentimes, there was a sense of distrust among bench chemists for some workers who unjustly obtained preferred work assignments.

Some employees resorted to bribing superiors to get special privileges, such as being able to attend choice conferences and meetings in exciting venues or locations. Likewise, politics was always present at the worksites. It was during an era when various forms of harassment, equal opportunity and discrimination laws were not yet enforced in the workplace. Occasionally, an unexpected chemical explosion happens in a laboratory setting, where luckily no one got seriously hurt.

In the three private companies I worked for, I was able to publish scientific journals for some of the research studies and analytical methods which I developed for the respective companies of Chemagro, Shell Development and Stauffer.

After deciding and making a vow to avoid working in the private sector, I made my new goal which was either to work for the state of California, or the Federal government in Washington, D.C. Four months after I lost my job in Chevron, I was lucky and joyful to be hired by the Food and Drug Administration as a review chemist in the fall of 1990.

In 1994 I was promoted as an Expert Research Chemist with a GS-14 rating. My expertise was on Anti-malarial and Anti-parasitic drug products. In 1997, I was again deservingly promoted to Chemistry team leader, supervising the work of six Chemistry reviewers including five with doctorate degrees.

As team leader, I was responsible for prioritizing, assigning, and assuring the technical accuracy of all chemistry, manufacturing and control issues for all new drug applications submitted to the Division of Anti-Infective Drug Products, Center of New Drugs.

It was part of my responsibility to give advice, instruct and promote high morale and teamwork in my group. My work in the FDA is confidential, until the drug patent on the products I worked on has expired. There are manufacturing supplements that I have approved that are now open for the public in the Internet.

In 1998, I won the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Award. The citation reads, “For outstanding accomplishments in fostering the objectives of the EEO Program by hiring minorities and encouraging their professional growth while providing excellent leadership.” I have received numerous certificates of appreciation, awards in leadership and communications, commendation for teamwork and excellence in the accomplishment of the FDA mission. I have also received several letters of appreciation from private industry for my review work.

There are many good things working as rank and file while enjoying doing one’s job individually. It is a humbling, satisfying and productive experience, if one can work in harmony with one’s immediate supervisor. Working individually develops one’s skills in goal setting and scheduling. But in general, the financial rewards are less than a person who has supervisory responsibilities.

Managing the work of others has its challenges. Moreover, it develops one’s skill in handling and developing people, and the compensation rewards and benefits are better. Due to additional duties, responsibilities and leadership, supervisory work can be more stressful than working as a subordinate. However, supervisory jobs give one more personal growth and satisfaction, based on my personal experience. My work in FDA as a team leader managing the work of six scientists had been the happiest and rewarding work experience in my career in Chemistry. You might also like:

Saturday, July 4, 2026