5 fingers, 5 weeks, 5 sensations

Welcome to the first week of preparing for Velvet, the routine we'll be dancing to in the new year. 

Each week I will post an invitation to become aware of your hands and fingers, with a focus each week on a different finger.  That might sound weird, but in Nia the hands are understood as the way we connect our self with the space we live in, how we connect our self to others, and how we become more deeply aware of the connection between our own mind and body.

So, right now, without needing to move any part of you, become aware of the sensations in your hands. 

Where are your fingers?  How are they shaped?

Is there tension in your wrists, or in the palms of your hands?

Are your hands warm, cold, in-between?

Become aware of your fingertips.  What are they touching?  Keyboard, fabric, the table, air?

Notice where your thumb is in relation to the rest of your fingers, and in relation to your palm and wrist. 

In Nia the thumb is seen as the heart finger, "the one that gives you direct nourishment and pleasure like the baby who sucks her thumb.  Use it to nurture your movement, to tightly hold onto and grasp that which makes you feel safe and loved.  In Nia, we use the thumb like a rudder, to direct the rotation of the spiraling motion of the forearm bones and to navigate movement of the hand and arm."  from the book The Nia Technique.

Now bring your hands together in what is called prayer position, bringing the thumbs to touch your chest.  Think of the breastbone and the bones in your thumbs humming to eachother, nurturing your heart with breath and intention.



Now tuck your thumbs into your palms and make light fists around them.  Squeeze just a little, so there is the sensation that your hand is hugging your thumb, gently and with love.  Take time to breath deeply.

Now open your hands and spread the palms and fingers wide, seeing how your thumbs reach from your hand out into space.

Be aware of your thumbs over the next few days, and I invite you to notice how they feel, how you hold them, the ways they reach for and hold what nourishes you - the hand of a loved one, a warm mug of tea, bread fresh from the oven, the slippery soap in the shower, the cozy blanket on the bed.