Arms. They embrace, they hit, they hurl, they rise, they implore, they cross, they repel and rappel. They accomplish wonders. They are part of the equation that makes mankind so blessed, so fearfully and wonderfully made. With that elegant tool at their ends, thumb and forefinger, our arms define us and our simian cousins. What a shame then to allow them to hang from our torsos, pulling us down, the objects of our disuse or misuse. We earn our slumping—all of us—by allowing our arms to lead us there. Enough. Arm your self against the approaching concavity.
Let the arms rest in front of you on your desk or on your keyboard. Fill your arms with your awareness. As you do so you may find that your back wants to come back. Let it but don’t arch it. Let it come back as a whole if it wants. You may find that you’re feeling a bit four-footed, your arms taking a bit of your weight. That’s a good thing. Your arms want by nature to let away from your torso. Let them. They don’t like being captives of your torso.
Now allow your wrists to be attracted to one another and your elbows to point like arrowheads to the baseboards of the nearest wall, just the thought of it and no more. Think: shoulder to elbow, elbow to shoulder, elbow to wrist and wrist to elbow, a conversation, a with and an against.
Send them, your hands, slightly away from the torso. What are you noticing? Take this, build upon it, and let me know how you develop it. Imagine that when you raise your arms that they arise from your back. Free your wrists, free your elbows to let your arms arise like a great conductor, a conductor, let’s say, of your self.
Moving with or arms pulled in compresses our spines, and makes us more susceptible to falls. Let your arms be balancing instruments on the high wire of your experience. Today, bless your arms so they can bless others. It’s a great meditation.
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