a king's scepter/hands - Craig Thompson: Alexander Technique and Mindfulness

Hands Up
I think I have experienced a little breakthrough. I am an idiot to try and say anything about it. Who could understand It? It might have to be another crazy person. Still, it could possibly help. I might have to call it for want to a better term the union of the Shambhala Teachings, Dzogchen, Alexander Technique and Jin Shin Jyutsu (energy medicine). Sometimes I just call it movement class. Mindfulness/Awareness supreme of no name. The Shambhala Arts was not bad.
The hands are so important in meditation. Of course I have known this for a long time but it just keeps getting better. Really, It’s the head and shoulders first and foremost. And, really, the torso also. The feet and legs are quite important also, but, somehow, it’s that a lot is resting in the hands for me now. Leading me to truth. Trungpa Rinpoche says that the hands are very important. Your hands in meditation (or otherwise) are like a king holding his scepter. How you present your hands as a warrior is so important. He was the greatest example ever. At various times, it was how he handled his drinking glass, his fan, his brush, his tea ceremony bowl, his thumb (very, very jin shin jyutsu), his thumb ring, his mudra, and such.
It kind of reminds me of the going for refuge, or the anjali gesture. Really, it reminds me of the gesture of the gazing practice. Just a little gesture or posture with the hands and it really sets the tone for the quality of one’s awareness. It’s like a little bow.
I always say when giving meditation instruction, in the resting the mind posture, lift the hands the weight of 2 quarters. Just a bit. Just enough to where you can be confident that one is not grasping.
I recommend the universal mudra in meditation. 20 years of perfecting that can do wonders. Or a few hours. It is a real art. Follow Suzuki Roshi’s instructions in “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind”. It should be a least 20% of your practice, I think. Don’t forget Reb Anderson’s helpful admonition to stay in contact with both your stomach and your legs.
Kyudo helped me a lot. You would have thought it would have been tea ceremony or calligraphy, or tai chi or chi kung but, really, it was kyudo. Really it’s everything; how you really connect with your world.
I think it’s just Buddha in the palm of your hand, really.
In Jin Shin Jyutsu they say the the universe is the source of all the energy and the hands are like jumper cables. I think so.