Holding My Heart

Years ago I learned a simple technique for centering and calming yourself when feeling nervous or anxious. It is called Holding Your Heart and simply involves placing your pointer fingers and thumbs together in a diamond shape (left pointer finger together with right pointer finger and left thumb with right thumb). If you move the thumbs out of the diamond shape into a relaxed v shape, the heart giving the formation its name becomes evident.

Now I do this without thinking, it is so relaxing that sometimes I am not aware that I am doing it until I see someone’s curious gaze fixed on my fingers. Then I watch the person’s reaction. Expressions range from amazed inquisitiveness to questioning horror as they allow their minds to leap to conclusions about a simple formation of my fingers. – Unreal!! Every once in a while though, I do come across the person who is bold enough to ask what I am doing with my fingers and I am immediately appreciative of that person’s candor because I know that their inquiry is coming from a good place and I gladly explain.

Over time I have come to realize that some are so superstitious that they instantaneously recoil in horror, from that person I realize that their intentions are not on the up and up hence their reaction is definitely based on where they are coming from. Case in point, I once had a co-worker that to look at that person, one would think that person glistened – always well put together, scrubbed and coordinated but serpentine in actions. I was called into that person’s office and as I always do I automatically put up my guard. On the other side of the desk the person squirmed and seemed so visibly affected by what my fingers had done it was if akin to slapping same in the face, it was as if that person was expecting I was releasing some Jamaican Obeah or something LOL!!!. The conversation which followed was not pleasant nor was my belief that I was taped without my consent but the moralistic high ground that the simple act of folding my fingers gave me was fantastic.

I highly recommend this practice to anyone.