Think of all our hands do for us. Can we even begin to list the multiple functions our hands perform day in and day out?
Let’s take a moment to appreciate the marvel of the hand’s anatomy, the neurology that directs the show, and the long-term service our hands perform for us. Let this awareness bring great appreciation. We have everything to gain by learning how to align and use our hands in their original design – the alignment our hands had when we were young.
The image above shows what healthy, happy arms and hands look like. For your hands to function well all your life you have to pay attention to your overall skeletal alignment. Like the old song, Dem Bones has it: “The hipbone’s connected to the backbone, the backbone’s connected to the shoulder bone.”
The gentleman in the photo above has a centered pelvis, an aligned spine, and well-placed shoulders. When you sit as he does, in Balance, then you can realign your lower arms and hands. Doing so is the pre-requisite for functional, arthritis-free, gnarl-free fingers and hands. Purchase a video lesson on how to sit well.
Sitting and standing well are the essential elements for healthy hands. So, it’s no wonder that our epidemic of unhealthy posture leads to hands and arms that are misshapen and therefore painful.
Webster’s dictionary lists these synonyms for the word aligned: “regular, true, exact, uniform, even, smooth.” Look at the antonyms for aligned, and you’ll find words that perfectly describe arthritic hands: “inexact, irregular, warped, pitted, bumpy, rough.”
We all know what painful hands look like. But very few people know where the distortions of osteo-arthritis come from. There are three sources: pelvic and spinal misalignments that distort our shoulders and therefore our arms and hands; habits of using our hands in misaligned positions, and tension caused by unhealthy alignment. All too often we are so used to tension in our hands that we no longer feel it.
The following images illustrate a few ways you might distort your wrists, hands, and fingers as you go about your day.
Note the hyper-extended bend at the top finger joints in the piano player.
In the second photo, the woman sits collapsed and twisted. The tension in her arms and shoulders makes her fingers straight and stiff rather than curved and relaxed.
The third photo shows bent, stressed wrists.
You can’t trick the system. These misalignments might seem small, but as you repeat them over the years, they will lead to a multitude of discomforts. Once you start aligning your lower arms and hands, your pain will decrease, and you’ll use your hands more efficiently.
If you already have arthritic hands, you can relieve your discomfort. First, you need to sit and stand well. Then learn to do your daily tasks with your hands and arms in alignment. With practice, you can prevent worsening of the symptoms, and little by little you can re-align each joint from shoulder to fingertips.
Class on Wednesday, February 2, 5:30 pm PT, or Friday, February 4, noon PT, will include:
- warm-ups that remobilize our arms and hands,
- massage practices to ease joints,
- an eye-opening slide show,
- and guidelines for positioning wrists, hands, and fingers for various activities.
Please bring a salad plate with a knife and fork, a pen or pencil, and your computer.
Here’s to healthy hands in 2022,
~ Jean Couch ~
One Response
Jean –
Thank you for the “hands” class Wednesday evening. All I learned brings great attention to the hands and fingers and how I use them. I also thought later about how the fingers are placed (not curled/crooked) with chopsticks and with the brush or pen in brush painting. And how fingers are gently curled around a Japanese/Chinese tea cup – not crooked into a handle of a mug.
Lots to think about. Good to be aware. Will also keep massaging the hands.
Looking forward to receiving the recording.