Look at your hands? There is wisdom, hard knocks, scars and life's experiences carved into the lines. Your hands have made you rich. Or poor. They have wiped your tears. They have gripped your fears. They have soothed away pain. Maybe held a friend's hand as they died. Who knows except you. Your hands tell your life story. Whether you are painter, a musician, a soldier, a surgeon, a gardener, a midwife or a parent. Your hands reflect who you are.

The hand is such an important part of our lives. Some cultures believe our destinies are already carved into our hands the day we are born. Whatever your beliefs are, your hands are the tools by which you shape your life. On your palm there is the lifeline. The heartline. The headline. All reminders that we must shape the life we have been given by using both the head and heart. We make our fate through the labours of our hands.

So how can the hand help? In my Maori culture we call the hand the Ringa. Ri means vibration. Nga means extremity. Our hands represent the extremities of our vibrations. Key energy meridians end in our fingers. Our hands move in accordance with our minds. Our inner intentions manifests in the movements of our hands. In some Pacific cultures the word ringa translates into the number five. Warrior groupings or small units were based around the ringa - the hand. The thumb was important because it represented the leader. Each of the other fingers represented specific roles. Today, you will see that many military special force units are based around a 5-man unit. This type of commando unit is compact, efficient and highly effective.

When collecting special leaves for healing from our native bush, I was taught to take enough leaves to hold in one hand. This ensured the sustainability and longevity of supply. So when you are business planning, just look at your hand. Make your planning compact. Remember the lifeline. The headline. The heartline. Your plan must have a lifeforce. It must contain both head and heart. Then start using the thumb and fingers to check off certain planning aspects. The thumb can represent leadership. The forefinger can represent marketing and sales. The middle finger can represent operations and distribution. The ring finger can represent team work and staff satisfaction. The little finger can represent finance and administration.

Another way is to use your hand is to access empowered mind states very quickly. For example, you can associate strong memories with each digit. I taught my 11 year daughter to associate each finger of her right hand with an important loving person. She choose her dad, her mum, her grandmother, her grandfather and her little 6 year old brother. She then linked each of these people to a finger. By quickly going through each finger, she could access a strong mindstate by remembering the love of each person. She then formed a fist by squeezing all these loving memories together. Her final gesture was to touch her heart. This would applify the loving feelings and allow them to flow through her body. She had formed her ringa - a hand-full of loving memories to guide and encourage her.

So look at your hands again. Honour them and thank them. For they carry much wisdom and insight into your life. Most of all, let your hands represent your inner strength and kindness. They can be relied upon to lend a helping hand.