Purpose
The Five-Fingered Implementers of Love
Your hands are your body's most complex and elegant partnership - the five-fingered implementers of how you "handle" all the activities of your life. Extending from your heart region as its "handmaidens," they are how you give and receive love through the exquisite sensitivity of touch. Some of their many issues include injury, pain, arthritis, rheumatism, eczema, contraction, and poor circulation.
In Susan Drury's understanding, the hands are the heart's emissaries in the physical world. They are the instruments through which the heart's love is expressed in tangible form - through touch, through creation, through the simple act of reaching out to another human being. The hands are also the body's primary tools for receiving - for accepting help, for taking what is offered, for allowing yourself to be touched by life. When the hands close, the heart closes with them.
The language we use reveals the hands' deeper significance: we speak of "handling" situations, of things being "out of our hands," of needing "a helping hand," of being "heavy-handed" or "open-handed." These expressions are not accidents of language. They are the body's wisdom speaking through the vocabulary of the hands ... telling us about our relationship with control, with generosity, with vulnerability, and with the courage it takes to reach out.
◇ Inquiry
When We Lose Our Touch
We can feel conflicted, confused, anxious, or imbalanced in how we are "handling" certain aspects in our lives. We may experience despair around being "handed off" or sidelined in some way. When feeling threatened, we may resort to "heavy-handedness" to gain control over something we perceive as "out of our hands." We may feel "out of touch" with our ability to both give and receive love and support. This can make it difficult for us to accept "a helping hand" or allow someone else the opportunity to give back to us.
"The hands are the heart's most faithful servants. When we clench our fists - whether in anger, in fear, or in the desperate need to control - we are closing the very channels through which love flows. Open hands are open hearts. The Hands card invites you to unclench, to soften, to receive."
Susan's healing work - particularly her cranial sacral therapy practice - has given her a deep understanding of what the hands hold and what they reveal. Through thousands of sessions, she has witnessed how the hands carry the stories of a lifetime: the hands that were held and the hands that were not, the hands that created and the hands that destroyed, the hands that reached out and the hands that pulled away. The Hands card invites you to bring awareness to these stories and to choose, consciously, how you want to use your hands from this moment forward.
✦ Transcendence
The Affirmation Your Hands Have Been Waiting to Hear
"I mindfully assess and balance the handling of anything that arises in my life."
"I am joyfully open-handed in both giving and receiving."
"The moment I feel 'out of touch,' I consciously extend my reach to become more 'hands-on' in the giving and receiving of love."
"I reverently touch and hold all that is in my life with wonder and gratitude."
Read these words aloud while gently opening your hands, palms facing upward. Feel the vulnerability and the beauty of open hands - hands that are ready to give, ready to receive, ready to touch the world with tenderness. The transcendence is an invitation to live with open hands and an open heart.
Working with the Hands Card
Hand Awareness
Throughout the day, notice what your hands are doing. Are they clenched? Relaxed? Reaching out? Pulling back? The hands are constantly communicating your emotional state. Simply noticing them begins the process of conscious choice.
Touch Practice
Choose an object ... a stone, a flower, a piece of fabric - and hold it with full attention. Notice every texture, every temperature, every sensation. This practice reconnects you with the exquisite sensitivity of touch that your hands were designed for.
Giving and Receiving
For one day, practice being consciously open-handed. Give something - a compliment, a gift, a helping hand - and receive something - a kindness, an offer of help, a touch. Notice which feels more comfortable and which feels more challenging.
About the Creator
Susan Drury - Healer, Teacher, Creator
As a cranial sacral therapist, Susan's hands have been her primary instruments of healing for over thirty years. Through her hands, she has listened to thousands of bodies and helped them release the stories they hold. The Hands card carries this lifetime of wisdom. Explore the full Elevated Body deck.
Learn More About SusanFrequently Asked Questions
Why are the hands connected to the heart?
Physically, the hands extend from the heart region through the arms. Energetically, they are the heart's primary instruments of expression in the physical world. In Susan's understanding, the hands are the heart's 'handmaidens' ... the means through which love is given and received in tangible form.
I have arthritis in my hands - what does this card say about that?
From a body-wisdom perspective, arthritis in the hands may reflect patterns of rigidity in how you handle life - difficulty letting go, difficulty receiving, or a history of grasping too tightly. The card invites gentle exploration of these patterns alongside appropriate medical care.
How does this card relate to cranial sacral therapy?
Susan's cranial sacral therapy practice is entirely hand-based - she uses the exquisite sensitivity of her hands to listen to the body's rhythms and support its healing. The Hands card carries this understanding of touch as a healing modality.
Open Your Hands. Open Your Heart.
Your hands are waiting to touch the world with tenderness, to give with generosity, and to receive with grace. Let the Hands card guide you back to the open-handed life your heart has been longing for.