Lower hand keeps drifting inward. Is that still bilateral signalling?

RW RowanInward Member · since Oct

RowanInwardMay 05 · 08:22#1

A posture question I can't seem to solve on my own. When I set the Janus Mudra — upper palm down, lower palm up, both at the solar plexus — my lower hand won't stay put. Over a five or six minute sit it slowly drifts inward, toward my body, until the gap between the palms has almost closed and my lower hand is nearly touching my stomach. :)

I only notice once it's happened. Then I reset, and a couple of minutes later it's crept in again. My question is really: does the drift mean something, or is it just a slack-arm problem? Is the field still doing whatever it does if the geometry keeps collapsing? I don't want to overread it, but I also don't want to keep fighting my own hand if the drift is telling me something.

KM KestrelMay Member · since May

KestrelMayMay 05 · 10:40#2

Before anyone gets metaphysical about it — where are your elbows? Mine used to do exactly this, and it turned out my lower elbow was drifting back into my side for support, which pulls the whole forearm in and the hand follows. The drift wasn't a signal. It was gravity plus a tired shoulder. Worth ruling out first.

RW RowanInward Member · since Oct

RowanInwardMay 05 · 11:05#3

...that's almost certainly it, now you say it. My lower elbow definitely parks against my ribs after a couple of minutes. Slightly deflating to learn my great mystery is "your arm gets tired," but honestly that's a relief.

AR Anika_Resonance Member · since Jul

Anika_ResonanceMay 07 · 19:33#4

Don't be too quick to file it entirely under fatigue, though. I sit in Opposed Palm Resonance a lot, and I've noticed my lower hand has a real preference for a slightly closer gap than my upper — maybe a centimetre or two closer to the body. When I stopped forcing them perfectly symmetrical, the felt field between the palms actually got clearer, not weaker. So some inward tendency in the lower hand might just be where your resonance wants to sit. The trick is telling that small preference apart from a collapse.

MN MiloNorth Member · since Apr

MiloNorthMay 09 · 07:14#5

Anika_Resonance wrotesome inward tendency in the lower hand might just be where your resonance wants to sit. The trick is telling that small preference apart from a collapse.

This is the whole question really. A centimetre of lower-hand preference: fine, interesting. A hand that's slowly folding onto your stomach: that's posture giving out. I'd say if you notice it before it's fully collapsed, it's a preference; if you only notice once you're touching your own belly, it's fatigue.

SG SaffronGate Member · since Aug

SaffronGateMay 12 · 15:47#6

Practical fix that worked for me: sit with a small cushion or a rolled towel under the lower forearm for the first few weeks. It takes the weight so the shoulder isn't quietly recruiting the elbow inward. Once the endurance builds you can drop the support. Overcorrecting by tensing the arm to hold position just gives you a different problem — a rigid arm and no resonance at all.

8 earlier replies collapsed by moderator summary. Selected posts shown from May 05–Jul 01. Collapsed section covered forearm-support options, whether to practise seated or standing, and a short exchange on breathing pace that RowanInward found helpful.

TA Tom Arden Practice mod

Moderator · alignment guidance

Tom ArdenMay 20 · 09:02#15

This is a lovely example of the board working well — someone brought a real practice problem and got it diagnosed from posture up rather than mystery down. Let me settle the actual question.

Rowan, the drift you're describing is nearly always mechanical. The lower arm is the harder of the two to hold, because it's working against gravity to keep the palm up at the solar plexus. When the shoulder tires, the elbow drops to the ribs for support and the hand follows it inward. That is what you're feeling. It is not the field pulling the hand — the mudra doesn't move your hands, it's a posture you hold so the opposed palms can face each other.

So: soften the shoulder rather than brace it, keep the lower elbow just off the ribs, and use SaffronGate's rolled towel while your endurance builds. Do not overcorrect into a locked arm — a rigid hand held by force feels like nothing, because you've clamped the very gap you're trying to keep open.

On Anika's point: yes, a slight lower-hand preference is real and worth respecting once your posture is stable. But sort out the collapse first. You can't read a preference off an arm that's giving out. Begin with grounding, keep it short while you rebuild the hold, and don't turn a tired shoulder into a message.

RW RowanInward Member · since Oct

RowanInwardMay 24 · 20:18#16

Reporting back after a week and a half with the towel and the softer shoulder: the drift is basically gone. And oddly, with the geometry actually holding, the warmth in the gap is steadier than it ever was when I was wrestling my own arm. Thank you all — this was exactly the kind of undramatic answer I needed.

HF HaleField Member · since Jan

HaleFieldtoday · 06:55#18

tbh Bumping this because I just hit the identical problem and found my answer without needing to post. The rolled-towel tip should honestly be in the pinned practice notes. Marking this one for the newcomers.

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Forum testimony is movement-side and is not Meridian-validated evidence. Members describe personal experience only. Begin with grounding. Do not practise while distressed.