Mindful Hands, Loving Heart

Clean the hands, Cleanse the mind

HOW MANY times in the last few months have we mindlessly brought our hands together to either wash them or sanitise them?

In this simple, prosaic and dutiful activity, were our thoughts wandering elsewhere? Perhaps already delving into the next task to accomplish, or musing over a past event or dialogue?

Just like the mostly unconscious act of brushing our teeth or grabbing a quick bite, the human mind tends to avoid presence when engaged in such mundane and sanctioned protocols.

It is a worthwhile exercise to ask ourselves: how much awareness and quality attention do we invest in the actual process of rubbing together and cleansing the hands? 

We might realise that every time we bring our hands together, it is an excellent cue to take ourselves out of mindlessness into the very core of the moment.

It is an opportunity for us to connect with the sacred and send out something meaningfully positive into the universe that represents our noblest intentions to reduce suffering and bring peace to our shared world.

A beautiful life does not just happen. It is built daily with prayer, humility, sacrifice, forgiveness and love; exactly what is needed right now for humanity and our planet.

Washing and sanitising the hands is our time-out to immerse our selves in the ritual of prayer, mantra or maybe just the immediacy of inner stillness and silence.

Imagine the immense healing power that could be generated if everyone sent out positive vibrations into the ether every time they did this modest action that must be performed constantly throughout the day.

If we are in harmony with each breath, in this moment and know that in giving our self this time to develop awareness and a steadiness of attention we are nourishing spirit, head and heart.

So why not? It’s not a big deal, yet the fruits of our small spiritual practice when we expect nothing back could be exponentially revolutionary. Every thought, intention and even the smallest effort impacts the world in some way.

The hands are the instruments of the heart, our forth chakra (anahata) of awareness that represents loving beyond ourselves.

With focussed awareness, whatever the hands are engaged in directly impacts the heart; and what the heart feels, impacts the hands and our actions.

Connecting to the heart chakra we enter the psychological centre of idealism and the urge for expansion of self-concept and worldview.

Indeed it is a vast and compelling space into which we can tap. Every time we sanitise our hands, we are capable of following the path of the heart that opens us to the healing powers of love.

Being is the source of love because learning to love means learning to be content with the life we have been given.

Being fully present to what is, without judging or evaluating or wanting something different is the most basic act of love.

There is far more love available to us in any given moment than we might be aware.

And there is much, much more love in our hearts than we as adult humans have been conditioned to believe is appropriate to express.

The human heart is not personal: the more we fathom our own hearts, the more we find there the being of others and beyond that, the very heart of the world itself.

Lokha Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu

May all beings everywhere be happy and free; and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all.

This prayer can be practiced to remind us that our relationships with all beings and things should be mutually beneficial if we ourselves desire happiness and liberation from suffering.

You are not alone if your hands are seriously impaired or in tatters from the harsh onslaught of all that sanitising and soaping.

The damage can be effectively mitigated with an equally zealous application of a rich, nourishing plant based hand cream.

Try massaging Tinderbox Hand Cream into your hands each night before bed. Feel how its exemplary nutritious and emollient formula soaks into the skin of the hands repairing, softening and healing.