Motherhand
The motherhand is said to be the yin hand, resting on the kyo enabling the yang hand, the working hand to do its job.
The motherhand is supportive, nourishing, watchful; it receives the messages and responses of the body and communicates these to the working hand and also it receives and interprets the messages and responses from the working hand, in effect it reflects all the movements of energy in the body.
Its quality is that of yin, quiet, unassuming, firm and gentle. It is stable, consistent; it offers an anchor physically and energetically to both the receiver and the giver; it is always present and does not move a lot; without it the working hand would be blind and unconnected like a wild horse without its rider. All the attributes of the motherhand are the attributes of the yin aspect in nature and in one's self.
By its yin nature the motherhand is often in practice mistakenly given a passive and secondary role to play. Yet the motherhand by the very nature of its yin quality is the most 'active', the most influential hand! It is the hand that makes contact first with the body and leaves the body last in any transition from meridian to meridian or point to point. It is the plug that switches on all the connections and communications within the body. It is the hand that initiates deeply all the shifts and subtle energetic movements. In its unassuming, stable, firm yet gentle presence it opens the flow of energy within the meridian, between the two hands and within the rest of the body. If the working hand needs to go deeper, the motherhand also will need to go deeper first, physically but certainly with mind/attention/Ki.
It has flexibility and adaptibility which means that it is constantly adjusting the depth, angle, quality of its touch to echo with the meridian, to speak its language, to be in tune with it.
The motherhand is the main point of reference for the receiver, giving a constant attention that creates stability and trust from which one's deep need can be observed and eventually met. The position of the motherhand is quite particular to each receiver and each meridian. The role of the practitioner is to establish where is the best, i.e. most interactive position or point for the motherhand in any given moment; it may not be where one was taught it should be! When the position is most effective there is a feeling of suction, the energy of the receiver and giver are glued together, like two hands holding. In fact one exercise I use with my students to feel the quality and presence of the motherhand, to become more aware of its continuous watching of the minute changes and adjustments needed, of its immediacy in responding and adapting, is to hold hands or to recollect holding hands.
The motherhand as the yin-active-hand has the effect of deeply relaxing the receiver so that there is no choice but to be in touch with one's deep needs and have these met. In this way both the receiver and giver are 'working' together to touch the deep needs. For the practitioner this is quite important as there is the attention and intention of the receiver plus one's own to support a healing. This is a true healing partnership with one's client, not a treatment relationship where the client may become too passive.
The motherhand is like the throwing of a pebble into a lake, it sends ripples throughout the lake and for a long time, ripples which the working hand picks up. In that sense the working hand has less and less to do if the motherhand is plugged in at a deep and subtle level.
In the same way it is possible to give a whole healing session working solely on the Hara, the core and the hub of the person, it is also possible to effect the deepest nurturing from the motherhand alone requiring little interventions from the working hand.
An exercise I do with my students is to hold the motherhand on cv4, to have only one hand on the Hara and to witness the changes in the diagnostic areas through one's awareness, intuition, through the motherhand or verbal feedback. It is quite revealing how the receiver is able to give herself all the diagnosis and the treatment she needs!
The energy knows what it needs. The practitioner having set up the conditions for that depth of receiving and feeling becomes then a witness of the receiver's shifts of energy, emotions, etc.
The motherhand has therefore the potential to influence the whole body, not just the area worked on at the time. Its work echoing like a wave throughout the whole system; the working hand being as Ohashi calls it "the messenger boy".
At times the motherhand can tease, what I call "make hungry" the energy within a meridian or area so that it provokes intentionally a response from a lazy or shy energy. We all know how healing and longlasting a non-judgemental, compassionate moment with another being can be, this is too what the motherhand does and in doing so enables the receiver to do her own healing.
The motherhand is the non-violent, non-intrusive yet most influential principle in a Healing-Shiatsu session.
Articles by Sonia
Dharma the Next Generation
Requests for Healing
Inspirations - Rinpoche's story
