Summer of hugs

Here is a thought. Have you ever tried to give a hug to anyone who is folding their arms? The chances are that you have not. If you did – it would not be very successful for either party.

When we fold our arms, we are unconsciously giving a message that we don’t really want to be hugged at this moment. All but the most insistent huggers get the message without a thought.

In Oriental medicine, there is an energy line called the ‘heart protector’. It does exactly what it says – protects the heart from emotional and physical stress. When we fold our arms, energetically we are hugging ourselves and reinforcing the strength of the ‘heart protector’. The trouble is that it can become over protective.

Now let’s jump to summer 2021. We have just had a long period where we can’t hug our friends. To some this will be bliss but to a lot of people, our souls feel starved from hugs and affection.

As a Shiatsu healing practitioner and Qigong coach, I am trained to see patterns within people and within groups of people. When I look around, I see this starvation in people. Emotionally, we have had to pretty much look after ourselves during lockdown. No hugs! This has led to many people becoming very contracted or over protective around the heart area.

The consequences of too much contraction in the heart area are not great – loneliness, feeling of isolation, bad posture, depression, lack of connection to the world and many others, but I am sure that you get the pattern.

The summer should be a time for happy hearts. The ancients said that it was a time to heal your heart and I can vouch for their knowledge through my practice.

Here is a healing practice that may help:-

• Wait for a nice warm sunny day. • Find a nice piece of grass – a lawn or park. • Lie on the grass with your eyes closed. • Place the palms of your hands in the centre of your chest. • In your mind, imagine a flower such as a daisy or sunflower with its petals closed. • Feel the sun on the front of your body. • Imagine that the sunshine is causing the petals of your imaginary flower to open. • Take it slowly. As the petals open in your mind – open your arms slowly.. • Finish with the image of the open flower and you lying on the floor with your arms open, receiving a hug from the sun. • Stay there for a few minutes but don’t get sunburn!

At Ki-Ways, we are running Tai Chi classes, Shiatsu Treatments and meditation sessions.