Compare the two images below. Which image presents longer fingers? Sometimes we mistakenly map finger length based on how the skin covers the hand. This type of mismapping can lead to limited dexterity and mobility.

Look at your index finger and all the places it bends from. Examine the distance from the tip of your finger to the first joint you encounter, then the second and the third. Compare how the third joint of the index finger appears to bend at the top of the hand with the palm side of the hand. Looking at the palm side of your hand, mindfully bend the index finger a few times. See how far beyond the skin webbing it goes? That’s a nice long mobile finger. If you’re like me, the first time I experienced this, I felt like my fingers grew and what I thought of as my palm had shrunk. Repeat this process with the middle, ring and pinky fingers. When you combine this with our previous thumb mapping, you may discover your hand is a lot more mobile than previously imagined.

What is a palm? How big is it? How does it relate to the fingers? I think of the palm as any part of the hand that isn’t finger. When you look at the palmar side of your hand in this way, you may notice your palm isn’t much bigger than a quarter or 50 cent coin. It’s a small circle in the center of your hand surrounded by mobile finger joints.

Once you’ve mapped the thumb, fingers, palm and wrist of one hand, compare it to the other one. Note any difference in sensations, aliveness, mobility, size, length or anything else that enters your experience. After comparing, feel free to map the other hand.

Our hands are antenna. They reach into the world and deliver valuable information about the space around us. Redefining and refining how we think about and use them enhances and influences how we experience our lives.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Connecting with the ground (part 1), on February 12th, similar mapping can be done with the toes. We’ll exit the hands and map the toes tomorrow.