“The very firstlings of my heart shall be the firstlings of my hand.” William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 1.
I’ve been doing yoga since 2018 and it’s done amazing things for me, but the place where the practice shows up most, physically, is in my hands.
I used to have calluses on the palms from too much lifting in the gym, and my hands were over-muscled and stiff. I tried to hide them in photographs. Nowadays, they’re supple and pliant, and the palms are as soft as they were when I was a boy. I just can’t recommend yoga hands too highly!
They’re stronger, now, too, but the strength goes deeper than the surface. I can hold a bag of laundry over my shoulder with just my thumb and forefinger and walk three blocks. I can peel a potato with knifepoint precision and better yet, I have real patience with which to do it (an added psychological bonus of doing yoga…). It all means fewer cuts in the kitchen.
If this sounds like boasting, I suppose it is a bit, but of course, there’s more to it. Since our hands are the vehicles we use most to interact with the world, it only makes sense, really, that a yoga practice should loosen them up a bit.
Yoga, for me, is about realizing that there’s more to life than punching our way through obstacles. Or grabbing opportunities. There’s a courage in simply existing, as we are, in acknowledging ourselves, rather than waiting for someone else to acknowledge us. The yoga symbol for courage is just to extend your palm out flat in front of you in a “fearless” gesture.
🤚🏻
Think about the toxicity of the “firm handshake,” and all the self-doubt that thought process entails. What about giving someone a generous handshake? With real depth and warmth to it?
I love that Macbeth quote, up at the top there, from when he gets crazy overambitious, about his hands. To me, it says, “watch out, mate…you’re headed for a nasty demise…”
There’s even a special bit of yoga entirely focused on hands. “Mudras” are shapes you can make to bring a certain thought or vibe into your practice. This week, I’ve been working a lot with this mudra, “vaya mudra”, which is intended to bring about serenity. It means “wind” or “air”. To do it, touch the tip of your index finger to the bottom of your thumb, with the thumb covering the index finger. Keep the other three fingers extended, and relaxed. It balances anxiety.
Like much of yoga I was skeptical about mudras at first, but now I’m on a mudra kick. I’m doing a “chakra alignment” class too, right now, and we’ve been learning these cool mudras to help activate each chakra. I even bought a series of cards, which show each mudra so clearly. I’d recommend them.
Hands. They’re the windows to the soul. No, that’s the eyes. But, you know. They’re still important. I’m gonna say they’re like the trap-doors to the soul. Or maybe…the soul’s back entrance. Wait. That’s not right, either.
HANDS.
Cain Carroll’s Mudras of Yoga —available at your local bookshop. 🙌🏼
