Hand Gestures and Their Meanings

I received this statue from my brother and his wife at Christmas, and my immediate thought was "I'm OK".

I looked at it, and continue to look at it throughout the day and remind myself that I am in fact, doing OK, relatively speaking. Those of us who suffer from a chronic illness, have good days and bad, and that becomes our way of life.

I remind myself, often, that for people with my disease, Multiple Sclerosis, I am fortunate to still be ambulatory, though that can be a struggle some days, still live at home and independent.

So, I was surprised to learn that my ceramic hand has a specific meaning in yoga language.

In yoga, this gesture is the GYAN MUDRA, the mudra of knowledge.

It is used to increase our knowledge, and improve memory and concentration. It stimulates the pituitary gland and helps with insomnia.

I have never practiced yoga but it is said to be beneficial to mental well being for such concerns such as anxiety, depression, concentration and memory issues, and the list goes on.

Yoga is not just about posing and twisting the body into impossible shapes. Above all, it's about meditation, and using simple hand gestures can increase your awareness.

The specific hand and finger gestures are called Mudras and are used during meditation or breathing exercises. They direct the flow of energy to the body and stimulate certain areas of the brain. They are used to maintain health and improve certain ailments.

Each finger corresponds to a natural element...air, water, earth, fire and ether (space).

Here's the link to the article I took this information from...  http://theheartysoul.com/yoga-healing/?t=THS&W=CON

Lunch with the Girls

It was my week for lunch dates. Friday I had lunch with my...dare I say it...eighteen year old granddaughter. I recently looked through a box of photos and can't believe so many years have passed.

She is attending university, and is a poised and beautiful young woman, quiet and contained, almost shy.

She laughed when I admitted I was jealous of her sense of style. She always looks so polished, even in leggings and a hoodie. The hair, the makeup, the nails and the clothes. It helps that she has a Mom who works in the fashion retail industry, and joked about growing up in the mall.

I'm jealous, and mad at myself, because I have let myself go, weight gain, always needing a haircut and my fashion statement involves denim and the color black. I lost a lot more than a career when I left work, I left the me that was keen on fashion, who, heaven forbid, wore skirts and heels. In my own defense, I left work not because I retired, but because I went on disability, heels will never be part of my wardrobe ever again, they don't go with the cane.

Saturday I had another lunch date. This one was spur of the moment, so was a brunch/lunch. This time I was with my next to oldest granddaughter, the fifteen year old cousin of the first.

This girl has a ready and open smile, complete with dimples. She talks in a rapid sling shot manner, often laughing at herself, using her hands to punctuate her conversation. Openly affectionate, she has a kind and giving heart.

I love both these girls, and my other five grandchildren, three more girls and two boys. They are great kids, and I am truly blessed.

This Thing Called Trust

At Christmas my friend was given a Lotto Max lottery ticket and, as she doesn't play, she didn't know how to find if out if the ticket was a winner. I told her her she could check the winning numbers on line, and offered to do so when she gave me one of those "yeah, right" looks.

I looked up her numbers, but alas, she was not a winner. The big prize that week was 60 million, plus forty, one million dollar prizes.

I often take my neighbor shopping, as she is approaching her 90th birthday and no longer drives. I'm also her go-to person when she has problems on her computer, which is funny, as I have my own go-to person.

Maybe she didn't trust the online check, but she mentioned that there was a machine at the lottery kiosk where she could check her number.

Since we were going to the store, I put her ticket in my pocket so she could verify the numbers. Unfortunately, when we got to the store, I didn't have it.

It did cross my mind that maybe there was the slightest bit of worry on her part. The next day we were talking and she said she'd had the weirdest dream the night before.

She had her ticket and lost it going in the store. A man found the ticket in the parking lot, took it to the kiosk and found it to be a big winner. Obviously my friend has trust issues and I should not appear to have landed a windfall or she would think I'd swindled her.

Luckily I later found the ticket by my bed, where it must have fallen out of my pocket. It is in her possession and I am not a member of the nouveau riche.

I think she would be upset if told I'd felt she didn't trust me, but given her age, it's the internet and computers she has no faith or trust in.

Still, it's a good thing I have no big expenditures in my future.