‘Our life is in our hands and between our hands'. 

Deep power and communication exists within our hands. The way we use our hands impacts how we think, move, feel, heal and relate to people in our lives. Through our hands, we can learn to soften our relationship to the world around us, create safer boundaries and open ourselves to more play with others. 

Put simply, the way we use our hands reflects the way we live.Changing the way we move our hands changes how we experience well...pretty much everything.

Science has shown that our hands are our direct connection to our brain's frontal lobe. As embryos, our hands and neocortex developed in parallel, and they continue to develop in parallel as adults.

The more refined movement we can access through our hands, the more we expand the capacity of our brain. When we have more access to the movements and sensations in our hands, we can be more creative, playful, connected and sensitive to the world and the people around us. 

Our hands are essential for nervous system regulation, which is the foundation for mental, emotional, physical and relational health. They allow us to set boundaries, negotiate safety, and relate to the environment around us. 

At the Up & Downworkshop that is taking place December 5-8, we will be using simple practices to access the somatic and autonomic nervous systems through our hands to find better resiliency and safe, playful social engagement - all hallmarks of good mental and physical health. 

In the workshop, people also learn to re-awaken their sense of touch. 

Touch is an essential part of life. But if we had abusive, intrusive, unwanted, or misattuned touch (or no touch at all!), when we are developing as infants, toddlers, grade-schoolers and teens, we won't know what good, nurturing, healthy, loving, safe, and unconditional touch truly is. We won't know how to touch others and it will be very tough to connect to ourselves in a loving and unconditional way. 

Through our hands and the deep connection they have in regulating our nervous system, we can also help ourselves and others to heal. Coupled with intention, intelligence and a playful sense of curiosity, we can start to heal the deeper parts of ourselves that have been waiting for this level of communication and nurturing. 

I invite you to come and recapture the potential energy and power that is within your hands and have fun doing so at the Up and Down workshop on Dec 5–8, 2019.