Elective: Hands

I attended my first elective last weekend: Hands on Hands. Not to be confused with my weekly hands-on class, Hands on Hands is a 16-hour workshop that covers caring for one's own hands as well as techniques to be used on the client.

Among the techniques covered were reflexology, acupressure, and meridians, each being more or less an introduction, while the focus was on massage techniques for both relaxation and stimulation. One of our hand massage sessions began at the neck and shoulders, which felt great when my classmate practiced on me. Massage techniques on the hands include working the webs between fingers, manipulating the metacarpals (the bones in the palm area), and, of course, some terrific finger work. I can incorporate hand massage into a full body massage, or I can spend a full one-hour session on the hands alone.

Hands are wonderful, aren't they? I love hands.