What I'm about to describe might be a lot of autistic people's nightmare but I have actually started to enjoy physical touch more from people. The gym I go to has a new yoga instructor who helps me adjust my yoga poses by touching me. She always informs everyone in the beginning of a class that she will walk around and ask if she can touch us to help us. And I just love it! Especially since I love stretching a lot, and she can for example push me further into deep stretches and that's exactly what I want when I do yoga. Yesterday she ended the class by putting essential oils and massaging everyone's temple while we were in the corpse pose (laying on our backs). The scent was a little strong for me but I enjoyed the scent as I was walking home and felt very happy.

I made another post earlier here about feeling a the pressure to accept hugs from people as a way to mask. And what I recently have discovered is that I enjoy touch, I just don't like the situations where people touch me out of nowhere. And usually it feels like hugs are more for other people than for me. So for example accepting essential oils and a gentle head massage isn't something I had imagined I would want from a stranger but she has made me so comfortable and I trust her and that makes me more willing to try something new. Especially since I know that the touching is for my benefit, I know what to expect and I can say no if I want to. I have even started to look forward to the classes with her as an instructor.

It's also a very good feeling to be in an environment where everyone is treated equally. Everyone gets the same information and everyone is asked for consent so no one needs to know that I'm neurodivergent. I wish everyday situations could be more like that.

I just wanted to share my thoughts and see if anyone has similar thoughts or experiences? I know autistic people can be very different when it comes to enjoying and wanting physical touch. But I'm interested in how autistic people who do want physical touch can receive it without being uncomfortable or feeling forced into it.