Apapachar: do you practice the art of caressing with the soul?

A few decades ago, one of the psychoanalysts who still took spirituality seriously, Carl Gustav JungHe said the phrase:

"Know all the theories. Master all the techniques. But when you touch a human soul, be just another human soul."

Since Jung's death, the concept of soul has been discarded by most psychologists and psychoanalysts as something necessary to treat and study the human mind. However, beyond psychology there are some deeply rooted ideas in popular culture that, being related to spirituality more than With experiments and scientific studies, they offer proposals on how we can approach human relationships, affection and, in general, the welfare.

In Latin America, specifically, there is an ancient word, of Amerindian origin, which is used to describe an action, but also a lifestyle that many people have adopted. This word is apapachar, which means something like "embrace with the soul".

A snuggle is much more than a hug

The word "apapachar" was originally born as part of the Nahuatl language, a language that is more than a thousand years old. old, although at first it was somewhat different and its pronunciation was more like "papatzoa". Today the term apapachar

It is used in countries like Mexico or Colombia with the meaning of "to give affection", but it is also common to give it a much deeper and more spiritual reading.

In this way, a cuddle can be a hug, but also any action with which it can be interpreted that a soul is undressing before another to offer affection or a very intimate type of support, not necessarily related to the sexual. Apapachar thus becomes the concept of caressing with one's own spirit, offering a show of love that does not depend on the physical limitations that can keep two or more people apart or the conventions on how the word should be expressed. keen.

Long before the birth of show culture in which the image is everything, in Latin America already there was the idea that displays of love cannot be totally constrained by social norms. That is why apapachar came to mean an affective exchange that flees from labels and that goes beyond the realization of a simple hug.

Everything is born with caresses

Curiously, originally apapachar could be translated as "knead with love" a definition that has to do with a physical task. However, from this concept emerged the idea of ​​apapacho as a caress made with the soul, something totally subjective, interpretable and, especially, intimate. But the relationship between spiritual caresses and the action of kneading is not a mere coincidence..

Today we know that in our closest animal relatives, such as the great primates, almost all of the emotional charge that to do with the transmission of affection is embodied in caresses, hugs and, in general, actions that have to do with the touch. Most primates rarely look each other in the eye, even in mother-child relationships. That's why we know that it is very probable that the affective language of our ancestors has been, for hundreds of thousands of years, the hug, the kiss, the caress.

But if we look beyond these actions, we will see that what is expressed in them is the will to show ourselves as we are and give the opportunity that another person can also do the same freely, without fear of being judged. The word apapachar captures this idea so that we can apply it in our day to day and we do not lose sight of the importance of getting rid of unfounded insecurities, not letting go of the opportunity to establish personal relationships based on authenticity, and enjoy the affection of the people who love us without making the banalities of everyday life keep us separated.

Snuggling is a vital principle

Of course, the term apapachar does not provide us with new knowledge about how we function, relate to each other, or feel. It's been around long before both psychology and neuroscience came along, and it's not has nothing to do with groundbreaking scientific discoveries that are going to occupy the front pages of telenews. Therein lies its value. As with the concept of Hoponopono, It is part of an almost timeless idea, which has always been with us.: There is no excuse for not getting emotionally naked with the people we really care about.

Apapachar is, ultimately, an idea so simple that nowadays it is transgressive. That is why it is highly appreciated by those people who love the strength of honest simplicity and naturalness above the artificial. Long live the apapachos!