With all the texting and typing we do nowadays, there’s really nothing quite like a great hand massage to release the tension we hold there. In fact, the way we carry tension in our hands influences the tension we store in our forearms, shoulders and neck. It can even contribute to tension-headaches. So this is a really worthwhile set of tools to have in your toolkit.
Just like our foot massage tutorial, we have two different positions in general for our hand massage. Within those 2 positions, there are 4 techniques that I’ll take you through.
Supinated:
With their palm facing up!
Thumbing the palm
Have the back of their hand on the mat to create some opposing force as you sink into the musculature of the palm. Whenever you use your thumbs, be sure to use them safely. If they ever get tired or sore, move on in your massage (please).
Peeling open the palm
Gliding over the palm is a vastly different sensation to ‘thumbing the palm’. When peeling open the hand, create an interlace with their fingers *see video tutorial to practice*, and drag your thumbs in all directions. A smooth glide is more likely to happen easily when someone’s skin is a little oily. If someone has dry skin, you may like to use some type of oil or lotion to create a smooth glide.
Pronated
With the palm facing down…
Breaking Bread
No one’s breaking anything (okay?!), but if their hand was bread this would be similar to the action of opening it up. Both your fingertips and your palms are peeling the hand open. The same holds true for this gliding action as in the ‘peeling open the palm’.
Back to Supinated
Fingertip traction
To decompress the joints in the fingers, we finish with a gentle and gradual traction of each finger. Please make sure you move slowly. If a knuckle cracks and you’ve moved gradually, there’s no need to be concerned. If someone has arthritic joints in the fingers, this can be particularly relieving for them.
Best Practices:
Go slowly! All techniques done gradually are much better to receive. Use the video pace to show you what a relatively ‘fast’ pace looks like. Aim to be slower than the video tutorial below. Other than that, communicate with clear and compassionate words, and listen generously to your partner.
Video Tutorial:
Happy massaging at home.
Hand massage helps improve my range of motion at my fingers and wrist. Sometime I can feel the tightness in my fingers and I do fingertip traction and it’s really feels good. Thank you for this tutorial.
I love the hand massage! With light pressure. This helps an arthritic thumb.
Loved this. I’m a fan of hand massage. This offers me some a new approach a d style.
When you do the interlaced grip, I can’t see where your right hand is going.
Can you explain?
Thanks so much!
Love the video 🙂
Hey Jennifer!
The interlace basically “covers” all fingers except the middle one. So interlace your ring and little finger with the two fingers either side of their middle finger. Hopefully that makes sense. And then just some gentle pressure from your fingertips on the back of their hand to “peel” it open a little. Let me know if that helps. 🙂