Body Awareness: Hands

Adapted from a meditation described in Martha Beck's book, Finding Your Way in a Wild New World, this practice allows you to tap into the presence and calm of the right hemisphere of the brain. By tuning into the sensations of the body - in this case, the hands - you can start to mute the chatter of the logical, verbal, left hemisphere of the brain and relax into a state of body awareness and peace. Excellent for beginners, and a great option for those who struggle with using solely the breath as an anchor for consciousness.

Transcript

Find a comfortable seat and close your eyes.

Take a hand,

Whichever one you prefer,

And hold it up in front of you so that it's not touching any other part of your body.

You don't have to hold it up very high because we're going to hold it here for a moment.

Just hold it in front of you comfortably and send your awareness into this hand.

With your eyes closed and no visual information,

I want you to ask yourself,

How do I know I have a hand?

What sensations tell me about this hand,

About its size,

Its shape?

Just holding it still in front of you,

I want you to try to map out an understanding of your hand based on sensory information.

Can you feel your hand from the inside out?

Is it hot or cold?

Heavy?

Light?

Tingly?

What is the experience of having this hand?

If you cannot see the hand,

How do you know how big it is?

Where does it stop?

Where does it start?

Now,

Try an experiment and move the fingers,

Just wiggling them a little bit,

Feeling how your brain lights up with more information,

How your understanding of your hand changes with this input.

What size is it now?

Feeling the fingers brush against each other,

What is that like?

Bringing the hand to stillness once more.

Now I want you to pick up your other hand,

Once again holding it in front of you so it's not touching any other part of your body.

And I want you to complete the same exercise with this hand,

Noticing how it may be different from the one we started with.

What is its size or shape?

What sensation words come to mind as you try to feel this hand from the inside out?

Is it your dominant hand?

Now wiggling the fingers of this hand and experiencing it in motion as well as in stillness.

How often we take these hands for granted,

They're responsible for fine motor movements and lifting things and turning things and writing things and typing things.

But when was the last time you stopped to really check in and experience what it's like to have a hand or two?

Now bringing your arms up together,

Parallel to each other so that the hands now separate could come very,

Very slowly close together in front of your chest,

Very slowly so that eventually they will meet in a prayer position right in front of your sternum,

Right in front of your chest.

Taking note of when you sense the other hand.

Does it happen before they touch?

Very slowly bringing them together until at last they meet.

Really indulging in all the sensory information that you're getting from having these two sensitive hands touching each other.

And taking a moment of gratitude for this time with your body and with these wonderful scratches,

These.

.

Reviews

Absolutely brilliant —one of the best embodiment exercises I have come across on the app.

Fine for beginners.
Bears repeat listening.

Perfect! Thank you! (Sometimes attending to my breath wakes up anxiety and bad memories; I love this alternative way of bringing attention to the body in this present moment.)

I love this one!

Plus, I feel super fortunate to get to practice with you from far away. 🕸

This really helps me focus on clearing my mind to meditate in a busy, noisy office.

Great questions posed during the exploration. Thank you.

I ask my students at every class to bring awareness to their hands and be thankful. I will use elements if your meditation to spend a few extra moments in gratitude this week. Namasté

A great mindfulness practice. I loved appreciating my hands! Thank you 🙏

Interesting concept. Especially when considering how I take them 4granted. Seriously, let’s hear a hand 4our hands.

Thank you 🌺🌺🌺for the wonderful meditation 👋🏾it was a sweet moment in the morning 🙏Namaste

Thank You 🙏🏿 I

Lots of energy pulling them together when they were close. I wonder how an person with an amputation or complex regional pain syndrome woukd do with this...

Fun little exercise. Enjoyed this, thanks. 🙏🙏😊

What interesting meditation. 😊. Observing something we mostly take for granted. Thank you. 🙏

Thank you for this fresh appreciation of my hands.