For most of us, the summer is the busiest and most active season of the year. Massage therapists and yoga teachers pack their schedules full, while those in the service industry work longer hours to accommodate travelers. Then there's the participation in outdoor activities like biking, swimming, kayaking, and other sports that fills up our free time. All of this extra activity has the potential to end up lodged as tension in the neck and shoulders. But how exactly does the tension get there? And more importantly, how do we get it out?
One major contributor to neck and shoulder tension that is often overlooked is tight hands and forearms. Think of all the ways we use of hands repetitively day after day:
- driving
- computers
- carrying a bag, purse, or children
- washing dishes
- writing, painting, or creating
- massaging
- participating in sports.
The list goes on and on, but how many times a day do you stretch out your hands. For many, the answer is never, not even one time in their lives. So the accumulated tension in the hands and forearms "creeps up" into the neck and shoulders causing stiffness, headaches and pain. But the connection also goes deeper than just muscle tissue.
From an Ayurvedic perspective, each finger relates to one of the five elements, ether (space) to the thumb, then air, fire, water and earth ending with the pinky finger. So each finger corresponds to the organs or functions in the body related to that element. For example, ether in the body exists in the larger spaces like the lungs and cranium, and the marma point at the tip of the thumb, hasti kshipra, enhances the flow of prana to the lung and brain, and relieves headaches.
The index finger relates to the air element, so it includes places that have movement through a hollow space (lungs and colon) and the movement itself, which is called a vayu. Tarjani marma point, on the tip of the index finger benefits the lungs and regulates the colon and apana vayu (the downward moving energy that carries waste products down and out of the body). Tarjani also balances udana vayu (the upward moving energy that controls exhalation, speech, cough, vomitting, etc.) with apana vayu.
The lungs and the colon have functional integrity, the lungs take in prana from the air and the colon takes in prana from our food. So if one area is affected, the other will soon follow. For example, lung congestion, cough, or sinus congestion is often accompanied by or caused by colon congestion/constipation. Interestingly, traditional Chinese medicine also recognizes these same connections to the fingers and organs. The energy meridians that run through the thumb and index finger are the lung and large intestine respectively, and these two meridians work as a pair and have functional integrity.
The other fingers are also similar in each system. From an Ayurvedic viewpoint, the middle finger relates to the fire element and the small intestines, the ring finger to water and the kidneys, and the little finger to the earth element and the heart. The womb and the heart have been said to be one organ in two places. The womb has the creative power to build the structure (earth element) of a human being, while the heart holds jiva, or the soul, to help us feel and think. It's this connection of hands, heart, and our true being that is most interesting to me.
As we stretch our arms and chest, we release the muscular tensions that restrict our lung capacity. Then as the lungs open we are free to release the unexpressed emotions that have been trapped in our bodies. These undigested emotions, or mental ama (anything that is unprocessed), act as a veil over our true nature, our essence, which is love.
Think about the arms and hands for a moment and how they connect us with the world. We use our hands to nurture: we hug, we greet with a handshake, we massage away pains, we soothe a crying baby by rocking in our arms. These are our expressions of love. We also use our arms and hands to keep the world at a distance when we are angry or sad. We may even strike out against someone with a hand or fist. These are expressions of imbalanced emotions or mental ama from past experience.
So a series of stretches and massage for the hands can not only improve the physical comfort in our bodies but also open the pathways to deeper healing on all levels of our being. As we open our hands, we open our hearts, and then we can experience our true being. As a wise person once said, "when the power of love overcomes the love of power, we will know peace".
So take a few minutes each day this summer to cultivate peace in yourself. Try these simple stretches:
- Hold each stretch for one minute
- Then massage each finger thoroughly, spending time on each joint and at the tip to stimulate marma (vital energy) points.
- Notice the difference after stretching one side, maybe even look in the mirror and notice if you see a difference in shoulder height or arm length.
- Then after finishing both hands, sit quietly, take a few deep breaths, and try to feel the connection between the hands, heart, and being.
