Saturday, September 15, 2012

HANDS!

Had a conversation today that inspired me to write.  I just want to share something cool about arms and hands that I like to do/think about from time to time.  For the most part, our hands (and by extension - haha - our arms) are doing things all day long.  Think about it.  From the moment you wake up, you may grab your phone and turn off the alarm, hold things, pick things up and put them down, type, open doors, carry bags or keys or other things, and grip the wheel while driving.  And these things are complex.  Our hands are very sensitive and can respond to and manipulate the environment in highly intricate ways without our being very aware.  You can probably cook an elaborate dinner from raw ingredients to final plated presentation without ever noticing what your hands are doing.  So...one thing I like to do is spend a minute or two sometime during the day to really STOP DOING ANYTHING with my hands.  What is it like not to have to tell your arms or hands that they have to do something?  When I stop for a moment and really tell my arms that they are not doing anything, that they don't have to prepare and contract to allow my hands to start doing something, it really affects the way they feel.  Doing this allows me to find a level of relaxation and release that I don't normally experience in places I don't often think about or move.

This is related to the way our thinking affects our body's shape and movement.  When you think something, especially about doing a task or performing a movement, muscles in your body start to react and move, even if you're not doing the thing proper yet.  And this obviously affects the tone and shape and organization of your body.  So it's interesting to play with thinking of this super active part of our body, the hands, as doing NOTHING for a little while, to sort of "unshape" the normal shapings that your brain and hands spend so much time practicing!  Try it, it's fun.


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