​Umbilicus and Diaphragm function energy
 
We could say that this is the final piece to our puzzle, but really it is the first.  Without the palms of our hands, we would not have any fingers.  The palms are the key to it all.  Here, we find the energy that is connecting us to our Source.  This is how we “plug into the wall” and charge our battery.  Without a source of life/power, our battery/body eventually stops running.  What is the connection between the diaphragm muscle and our breath? 
 
According to www.healthline.com, the diaphragm “contracts and flattens when you inhale.  This creates a vacuum effect that pulls air into the lungs.  When you exhale, the diaphragm relaxes and the air is pushed out of the lungs.”
 
On the level of energy creating and sustaining the body, this is a bridge between the seen and the unseen.  Aside from when it’s cold out, we generally don’t actually see our breath, but it is there nonetheless.  It is this breathing function that connects us all: people, animals, and plants.  It is the binding ingredient necessary for sustaining all life.  If we remove the diaphragm energy from the equation, we are making it practically impossible to be alive.
 
In our previous conversations about the fingers, we didn’t really talk about the natural flow pattern of our energy.  As we are inhaling, the energy is moving up the back of the body (including the arms and legs, fingers and toes), and then during the exhale, the energy is moving down the front.  This is continuous, and cyclic.  Up the back, and down the front; which, in and of itself is a beautifully simple meditation.  Each of the organ functions mentioned in the earlier posts are paired up, and their energy flows are either moving up the back or down the front of the body.  It is the same here.  Along with the diaphragm function energy, we have the umbilicus function energy.
 
What does the umbilical chord do for a fetus inside of the mother?

• Cleans
• Nourished
• Protects
• Sustains life 
• Cultivates growth

 
Because the breath is all-encompassing, every aspect of the body/mind/spirit is supported by balancing the umbilicus function energy.  Indeed, for people who are very shy, and introverted, we can support them shining their light in the world by harmonizing the umbilicus flow.  When there is somebody having a difficult time “leaving the nest”, that is an expression of the umbilicus energy.  Due to the specific pathway that this energy flow uses in the body, we can also come here to support any ear and/or hearing projects.    
 

• Umbilicus = Up (helping the energy to move up, especially anything “stuck” below the waist)
• Diaphragm = Down (helping the energy to move down, especially anything “stuck” above the waist)

 
To harmonize the diaphragm and umbilicus function energy, we hold the palms, front and back.  This is a cumulative practice.  The more time we give to this, the better, but every little bit counts.  It’s like putting change in your change jar.  Once you have a hold of your hand, take at least 3 nice full, relaxed breaths, beginning with the exhale to make space for the new breath.  (Again, thinking about a newly born baby: they must exhale the amniotic fluid before taking their first breath of pure air.)  I like to focus on my left hand first (energy of our ancestors, our DNA, that which we inherited), before moving to my right hand (the energy of the “now”, how am I playing the cards that were dealt to me?), and taking 3 additional breaths.  This is a beautiful way to begin the day, deal with whatever critical moments are happening during the day, as well as shut down when it is time for sleep.
 
Sending you love and gratitude from Exquisite Healing,
Amy & Tait

​The little fingers are anything but small.  They are directly connected to our habits of “trying” verses allowing.  Here in the US, we use the word “try” A LOT, but what does it really mean?
 
Do a quick experiment for me: 

• I want you to put a pen, pencil, or something else, on the counter. 
• Now I want you to “try” picking it up. 
• What happens? 
• You either did or you did not pick it up.   

 
We are saying we are going to do something and then not doing it, or it can be an indication that we are “pushing” to make something happen as opposed to being open, and allowing it to unfold naturally.  Our “trying to” attitude has to do with our heart and small intestine function energy.  How many of us have said, “My heart just isn’t in it”, or “I’m not really feeling it”?  We are verbalizing an imbalance in the heart and small intestine energy flows. 
 
What about being challenged when it comes to making decisions?  Our little fingers are speaking to us.  Do you hear folks around you saying, “Everybody’s getting sick”?  If you want to stay well, balance the heart and small intestine function energy, and help the body in deciding what gets assimilated into the system and what gets released.  On the level of spirit, this is working with balancing out our judgments of self and others.    
 
These organ function energies are also responsible for the structural aspect of our bodies:  the bones.  If it has to do with our bones, it can be harmonized with the little fingers. Indeed, this is also working to balance our circulatory system; think blood pressure, Renault’s syndrome, or high cholesterol.  When we wake up in the middle of the night, and cannot get back to sleep?  You guessed it: the little fingers.    
 
Anything to do with the heart is connected to the little fingers.

• A broken heart/heart ache
• Heart disease
• Heart murmurs/issues with the valves/irregular beat
• Congestive heart failure
• Heart attack
• Heart surgery (pre and post op)

 
The next time we need support opening our heart during a challenging situation, we can hold our little fingers.  In the previous posts we talked about holding each of the other fingers, left side first, then right side, and taking three nice full breaths for each one.  Again, more breaths are always better.  It is the same here, with these little fingers.    
 
With love and gratitude from Exquisite Healing,
Amy & Tait

​Today is all about the ring finger, our lungs, and large intestine.  If you’ve spent time in our office, you probably have heard Tait and I talking about the hierarchy of importance for food, water, and the breath.  For those of you who have yet to grace us with your presence:  I ask you three questions: 

• How long can you survive without food? 
• How long will you live without water? 
• Can you hold your breath for more than a minute? 

 
Of these three life supporting things, the breath is clearly, without a doubt, the key to existence.  Our lungs are speaking to us about relationship: how am I meeting the world?  How is my internal self relating to my external self?  How are my red blood cells working with the white ones?  How am I getting along with my partner?  How am I communicating with my team?  And anything else you can imagine having to do with relationships. 
 
The air we breathe in mingles with every aspect of our internal system.  Each breath takes approximately 20 minutes to circulate through the entire body before being released in the form of an exhalation.  In those 20 minutes, that breath is making the exchange of oxygen for carbon dioxide, and carrying a ton of impurities out of the body from literally every single cell that creates the physical self; on average humans have 37.2 trillion cells!!!  By simply breathing, we are helping our system to “take out the garbage”, we are cleaning our “house”. 
 
Here’s the really cool part: our large intestine is doing a very similar thing!  It’s deciding what gets to stay in, and what needs to be released in the form of solid waste.  Any time we let go of something (the exhale, old habits, old relationships, an old house, old ways of relating to others, digested food, etc), there will be a grieving process.  Maybe you aren’t necessarily sad about leaving that job that you didn’t like, but the change in your routine inspires the expression of grief on an energetic level. 
 
This imbalance, when left unchecked, can lead to disharmonies on the physical level.  How many of you get constipated or have diarrhea when you travel?  Energetically, the body is processing “sadness” and “grief” resulting from changes in the environment.  This doesn’t mean we are sad about being on vacation, but rather, our bodies are grieving the loss of the familiar (foods, time zones, routines, thoughts, habits, people, etc). 
 
Thankfully, we have our ring fingers to reestablish balance, and harmonize the lung and large intestine energy.  Holding the left ring finger first will clear/clean the past.  Like we discussed in the previous posts, take at least 3 nice full deep breaths (more is better), before moving on to the right ring finger (the present moment) for three more breaths.  Exhale fully.  Imagine you are wringing out a sponge, and really push it all out.  Mary Burmeister said, “We are never in disharmony because of what we lack, but because of what we have not let go of.” 
 
With love and gratitude from Exquisite Healing,
Amy & Tait