This episode is part six of a nine-part series of body-centered practices. Dr. Janys originally recorded this as part of a crisis counseling course. Their students kept asking to download it so here it is for anyone and everyone. Body-centered practices can be helpful in gaining resources for calming the nervous system. If you are looking for brief practices for personal use, resourcing for counseling, or for being a counselor- this will be of use to you! Transcript included.
In addition to being a therapist and a professor, Dr. Janys is certified as a yoga instructor and yoga therapist. In addition to using her own experience leading guided body-centered practices, they referenced the readings below to create the body-centered practices series:
Levine, P. (2008). Healing Trauma: A Pioneering Program for Restoring the Wisdom of Your Body. Sounds True.
Menakem, R. (2017). My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and Our Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies. Central Recovery Press.
Rothschild, B. (2000). The Body Remembers: The Psychophysiology of Trauma and Trauma Treatment. W.W. Norton and Company Inc.
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Body centered practice six soothing your hands.
Before you begin, find a place where you will have some time to be uninterrupted and also find an oil or a lotion that you like that feels good on your skin. This doesn't have to be anything special, you can use olive oil or just hand lotion.
Allow yourself to settle into your space.
Slowing down your breath. And before you begin just focusing your attention on either your right or left hand.
Turn your palm to face up.
Just look at your hand notice. All the things that your hands do throughout the day. Everything or everyone that it holds. All the writing that you do.
And then turn your hand over and look at the back of your hand.
Maybe look at it with new eyes as if this is somebody else's hand that you've never seen before.
Every hand tells so many different stories.
And then do the same thing with your other hand. Turning palm up and just noticing.
Thinking about which hand maybe is dominant if you have a dominant hand. And then put both your hands out in front of you, just noticing without judgment. Thinking of all the things your hands have done.
How your hands have supported you.
And then taking a breath and if you'd like, you can make fists with your hands and as you breathe and you can squeeze your hands like you're squeezing lemons in your hands, just notice what happens with that tension and then exhale. Release all that tension and just let your hands come to rest, either beside you or in your lap.
And then just noticing what happens when you allow yourself to squeeze and release.
Now, take your oil or lotion.
And start with one hand. And just very slowly, mindfully. Apply the lotion. Whatever feels right to you as it settles into and in, maybe you want to gently massage from your wrist up to your fingers. Sometimes people like to get up to their fingers and flick negative energy away, if that feels right to you. You can do that. Or maybe just rub your hand with the opposite hand and just feel what it feels like to pay attention to your wrist, to your palm, to the back of your hand, to your thumb, to each finger.
Being gentle and slow and intentional with your hand.
And then do the same thing with the other hand, paying attention. To what is soothing. What feels good to your body?
How it might feel different, touching your wrist or your palm or the back of your hand or a particular finger. Perhaps you kept some jewelry on, so noticing that interaction, if you're wearing jewelry.
Allowing yourself to be cared for with this exercise.
Remembering that a well cared for for body also tends to feel better.
If you'd like, you can pause and then once you're done rubbing the lotion or oil into your hands, you can stop it, maybe bring your hands together in a prayer.
Just being grateful and thanking your hands for all the work that they do.
And if this exercise was a resource to you. Reminding yourself to bring your awareness back to this or to practice this again.
And take a few moments.
As you start to let the space open up, observing your space around you, maybe stretching or breathing or shaking the hands out to come back to the rest of your day. Take some time to take some notes about what your experience was like.
And remembering if it's a resource that you can return to this again.