Finger Tracing Physical Meditation

One of the great things about meditation is how much variety there is,

And how many different techniques there are to explore.

Sometimes the most simple practice can be the most effective.

And having something at our disposal that we can turn to at any time,

Regardless of where we are or what we're doing,

Is a great tool to have in our kit.

Modern life has changed in ways we could never have imagined.

The stresses,

Strains,

Challenges and demands that we face on a daily basis are quite different to what they were fifty years ago,

Let alone a hundred or two hundred years ago.

We no longer have to worry so much about becoming a handy snack for a passing predator.

The night time doesn't hold the same kinds of threats.

Survival of winter has been made much easier by the inventions of central heating and insulation.

The hard-wired survival skills we evolved with to help us in these often life-or-death situations are rarely needed in the same way now.

And yet our responses to such perceived danger are still very real.

A difficult day at work,

Anxiety in social situations,

A never-ending to-do list.

These situations can produce the same reactions in our sympathetic nervous systems and essentially charge our bodies with the need for either fight or flight to help us survive what comes next.

Increased heart rate,

Sweating,

Shaking,

Hyper-focus,

Nausea,

Insomnia.

These can all be signs that your sympathetic nervous system is primed for survival.

The problem here,

Of course,

Is that the reaction is disproportionate to the danger.

A bad night's sleep due to insomnia does not help us with a busy day.

In fact,

It makes it even more difficult.

Everyone feels stress in different ways and at different levels of severity.

But being able to recognise when your stress levels are on the rise is the start to learning how to manage them.

Catching that moment where you realise you're not feeling great about a situation is the time to take a step back and take a little time to help yourself come back down from a heightened level.

Perhaps you're anticipating attending an event,

Seeing a specific person,

Having a difficult conversation,

Have had an argument,

Or maybe even something as simple as just leaving the house.

Sound familiar?

If you know this incident is difficult for you,

Then this physical mindful meditation may be able to help.

This physical meditation technique is suitable for everyone and all abilities.

You don't need any visualisation abilities or even a quiet space necessarily.

It can be done anywhere with ease and subtlety.

Finger tracing is an incredibly simple but effective focusing exercise that centres around touch and breath.

Something that we all have and all do.

We all know that a hug can make you feel better when you're feeling sad.

That a caring arm around the shoulders or even the simple touch of a hand can help us reconnect and feel a little calmer.

Even contact stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system and this helps us to return to a state of rest rather than stress.

And the same is true for physical connection with ourselves.

As with learning any new technique,

It's best to start with some time to yourself in a quiet space if you can.

To help bring your focus to this meditation,

I want you to begin by having a really good stretch.

Stretching is good for us in so many ways,

But before a meditation it can help to ease out any tension that we are carrying,

Stimulating blood flow to create a balance of energy in our bodies and feel that lovely sensation of everything settling into a more relaxed state.

So stretch in whatever way feels good for you.

Lift your arms over your head,

Circle your arms,

Rotate your shoulders,

Circle your wrists.

Gently tilt your head from side to side.

Whatever feels good and is accessible to you.

Just take a few moments to connect with your body.

Breathing easily and naturally.

Just take a few moments to centre yourself and remind yourself why you have come to this practice today.

You don't need to try and breathe more deeply.

You don't need to try and breathe more slowly.

Just breathing normally with no extra effort at all.

Just your innate ability.

You can also focus on the sound of your breath as you inhale and exhale and appreciate how the simple movement that is a constant in our lives is so important and so deserving of your attention.

Nothing more,

Nothing less.

This is all that is required of you at this time.

If your mind is wandering,

Moving to what's happened during the day or what you still have to do with the rest of the day,

That's okay.

These thoughts don't have to be excluded from our practice.

You can let them come to mind.

You can acknowledge their presence and then you can let them move away.

Just take a few more moments to breathe,

Just normally in your own natural rhythm.

I want you to take one of your hands,

It can be your left or your right,

Whichever feels most natural to you,

And hold it out in front of you with the palm facing towards you.

Our hands are such important parts of our body,

Tools which help us with so many things throughout our days,

And yet we don't always give them the attention that they deserve or the care that they may need.

The dexterity,

Ability and flexibility of every finger,

Every tiny bone in our hands form these incredible tools of our bodies,

And it is taking the time to appreciate these hands that forms the basis of this meditation.

Just spend a few moments studying the patterns and textures of the palm of your hand.

The many lines that crisscross the palm,

Vertically,

Horizontally and diagonally.

Perhaps you see how they interweave with each other,

Creating forks and islands on your skin.

The creases that your knuckles and your fingers have.

Perhaps bending and flexing your fingers to see how these patterns change with movement.

Now taking your other hand and focusing on your index finger,

Move that finger to the very base of your thumb where it joins your wrist,

And lightly touch the skin,

Feeling that sudden moment of warmth or perhaps coolness as you make connection with yourself.

On your next inhale,

Move your finger up the outside of your thumb,

Tracing the outline and shape as fast or as slowly as your inhale is.

It is your breath which is driving the speed and the pace of this movement,

Not the movement of your finger.

As you move over the top of your thumb,

Start to exhale as you trace down the inside of your thumb to the well beneath your thumb and your forefinger.

On your next inhale,

Tracing up the side of your index finger,

Over the top,

And exhaling down the inside of the forefinger to that little U-shaped well between your forefinger and your middle finger.

Inhale tracing up the inside of the middle finger,

Across the top,

And exhale down the other side of your middle finger,

Coming to the dip where your fingers meet the palm of your hand.

Inhale tracing up your ring finger,

Across the top,

And down the other side.

And finally,

Inhaling as you trace up the inside of your little finger,

Over the top,

And exhaling down the outside of your little finger,

All the way down to the outside of the palm to that point where your palm meets your wrist.

This is the only movement that you need to do during this meditation.

So now that you are familiar with the physical part,

Bring your concentration to your breath and let your breath guide you with the movement.

The mindful nature of this meditation is being able to focus on the connection and the relationship between your breath and the movement as you trace your fingers around the outline of your hand.

The breath is driving the pace and the movement is following in perfect harmony.

And as you follow this simple pattern,

Making sure that your finger stays in connection with its tracing of your other hand,

Feeling that sensation of touch and grounding connection with yourself.

The structure of this meditation should now be starting to feel familiar.

The focus that it requires purely on yourself and your breathing,

Your movement providing a centering experience to help your mind move away from distractions and stresses,

Bringing you back to a place of peace,

Relaxation and control.

Continue to trace the outline of your hand in line with your breath for as long as feels good.

This meditation can be done anywhere you like at any time,

Any time that you feel you need to bring yourself back to you,

To refocus,

To rebalance,

To reestablish.

Even if it is just one cycle of tracing and your breathing,

It provides you with a valuable moment in which to come back to what is important.

It provides you with a valuable moment in which to ground,

Find comfort and stability with your breath.