Handmind invitation

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This little tool goes by many names, but it's found around the world through different times. No matter the name, it's a disk used for making braided cord. Whether you name it kumihimo, trollen wheel, or friendship bracelet disk, what you have is a tool not only for braiding cord, but an invitation into mindfulness and intention setting.

There are a lot of tutorials online.

Take a look at this one from Woodland Knitter for flat braids.

Check out Curly Made on YouTube to see how to make a beauty of a braid.

Or, just do some googling to find the resource you prefer.

Take a look at friendshipbracelets.net for all sorts of fun patterns.

Once you've learned to make the braid, you'll find that it can serve as a great tool for calming your mind. Repetition of motion does that for us. It shifts us into what Ursula K. Le Guin calls "handmind."

She writes, "Nothing we do is better than the work of handmind. When mind uses itself without the hands it runs the circle and may go too fast; even speech using the voice only may go too fast. The hand that shapes the mind into clay or written word slows thought to the gait of things and lets it be subject to accident and time."

Simply braiding and letting yourself move into this space is enough. Make a practice of it. Take your disk with you, and use it whenever you can or whenever you need.

In that space of handmind, you are more prepared to set and then follow through on intentions. 

Consider what it is you would like to accomplish, experience, or be in the world and within yourself.

Narrow that down to a simple sentence or phrase.

As you braid, repeat that statement to yourself over and over while you work. If your mind wanders, simply come back to the phrase, and continue on until you're don.

Wear that braid as a bracelet. Not only have you now set aside time for this affirmation in your mind, but you used your body to create a physical artifact. Now, wearing it, you'll be reminded often of that intention, and you'll find your way into accomplishing it much more easily!

Choose colors that are connected to the intention you are setting. You don't have to pick "the right color." You pick a color that is connected in your mind and experience. 

Add essential oils to the braid (only if you're using natural fibers!) that will create another layer of sensory experience to your intention and its unfolding.

Work with others. Have a trusted friend or two do a braid of their own alongside you. Build your energies up in the space, bless each other's work by listening to the intentions being made, affirming the person making each intention, and by holding space for each other as you work.

In service to guerilla art, tie your braids up in public places. Natural fibers will deteriorate and return to the earth, and if you choose fiber with no dye or natural dye, all the better. Seeing a thing of beauty in the midst of our day is a welcome disruption to the status quo, and you never know what good you might do for someone simply by having left your braid somewhere!