Read Online Chinese Healing Exercises by Steven Cardoza - Free Book Online
Authors: Steven Cardoza
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you are already experienced in daoyin, you can additionally benefit by using your mind to direct qi through your Kidney meridian.
Method
Kneeling with your knees close together, on a mat or other soft surface to protect your knees, position your feet so they are more or less perpendicular to the ground, toes pointed forward with the pads of the toes in contact with the ground. You may find your little toe curling, wanting to point rearward. If thatâs the case, use your hands to position your little toe (or any other that may need it) properly. Next, sit on your heels, putting more of a stretch on your toes ( Fig 1.18 ). Keep your body as close to perpendicular as possible, hands placed palm down on your knees or thighs. The more you sit back on your heels, the greater the stretch becomes ( Fig 1.19 ). Once youâve reached the current limit of your stretch, where it just begins to be uncomfortable, use focused breathing to relax in that posture, releasing the discomfort along with any tension on each exhale.
Do not overdo this stretch, especially if you are new to it, or if it is particularly difficult for you. Ten or fifteen seconds may be a good place to start. Even when this stretch becomes completely comfortable, there is no need to do it for more than two minutes.
Figures 1.18 and 1.19 (Kneeling Toe Stretch)
[contents]
Two
Leg, Seated
These exercises can be practiced on their own, or immediately following the foot exercises. They can readily begin where the foot exercises left off, and are practiced while seated on the floor.
The first two exercises in this series make use of paidagong, tapping and patting practices. In Chinese medical theory, one of the main causes of discomfort and pain, and one of the main factors considered to be at the root of many diseases when left untreated, is stagnation. In its milder phase, it is qi stagnationâenergy that should be flowing freely but is unable to do so, stuck in a location or many locations within the body. This could be due to physical or emotional trauma, inactivity, exposure to environmental conditions when prolonged or in a person sensitive to an environmental factor, inappropriate diet, or it could be a side effect of various drugs (prescription or otherwise), among many other possibilities. Over time, qi stagnation may worsen, weaken surrounding body tissues, and cause a stagnation of blood or other body fluids that should normally be in motion. These are more significant pathological changes engendering various diseases.
Paidagong can assist in reversing such stagnation. The gentle impact caused by tapping and patting induces a penetrating wave of energy through the body. When that wave encounters a pocket of stagnation, it can gradually break it up when applied over time, like a constant drip of water can wear down a boulder. As the stagnation breaks apart, any associated health problem will resolve.
These exercises are a good starting point for all that will come next. Even without a known health problem to remedy, the waves generated by tapping and patting gently relax and open the body, remove restrictions and make it easier to do the more challenging exercises.
1. Tapping and Patting the Outter Legs (Yang surfaces)
Purpose
Physical: Relaxes and softens body tissues, promotes blood circulation in the legs, prepares the legs for later exercises.
Energetic: Breaks up local qi stagnation, promotes qi flow through the Gall Bladder, Stomach, and Spleen meridians of the leg. The Spleen is one organ which engenders blood and thus assists in the physical purpose of this exercise. The Spleen and Stomach dominate the muscles, and the Gall Bladder (along with the Liver) dominates the tendons and ligaments, so this will energetically condition those body tissues.
Technique Used
Paidagong.
Method
Sit on the floor, legs extended in front of you. Curl the fingers of both hands into soft fists, not tightly clenched, with a little sense of space at
Method
Kneeling with your knees close together, on a mat or other soft surface to protect your knees, position your feet so they are more or less perpendicular to the ground, toes pointed forward with the pads of the toes in contact with the ground. You may find your little toe curling, wanting to point rearward. If thatâs the case, use your hands to position your little toe (or any other that may need it) properly. Next, sit on your heels, putting more of a stretch on your toes ( Fig 1.18 ). Keep your body as close to perpendicular as possible, hands placed palm down on your knees or thighs. The more you sit back on your heels, the greater the stretch becomes ( Fig 1.19 ). Once youâve reached the current limit of your stretch, where it just begins to be uncomfortable, use focused breathing to relax in that posture, releasing the discomfort along with any tension on each exhale.
Do not overdo this stretch, especially if you are new to it, or if it is particularly difficult for you. Ten or fifteen seconds may be a good place to start. Even when this stretch becomes completely comfortable, there is no need to do it for more than two minutes.
Figures 1.18 and 1.19 (Kneeling Toe Stretch)
[contents]
Two
Leg, Seated
These exercises can be practiced on their own, or immediately following the foot exercises. They can readily begin where the foot exercises left off, and are practiced while seated on the floor.
The first two exercises in this series make use of paidagong, tapping and patting practices. In Chinese medical theory, one of the main causes of discomfort and pain, and one of the main factors considered to be at the root of many diseases when left untreated, is stagnation. In its milder phase, it is qi stagnationâenergy that should be flowing freely but is unable to do so, stuck in a location or many locations within the body. This could be due to physical or emotional trauma, inactivity, exposure to environmental conditions when prolonged or in a person sensitive to an environmental factor, inappropriate diet, or it could be a side effect of various drugs (prescription or otherwise), among many other possibilities. Over time, qi stagnation may worsen, weaken surrounding body tissues, and cause a stagnation of blood or other body fluids that should normally be in motion. These are more significant pathological changes engendering various diseases.
Paidagong can assist in reversing such stagnation. The gentle impact caused by tapping and patting induces a penetrating wave of energy through the body. When that wave encounters a pocket of stagnation, it can gradually break it up when applied over time, like a constant drip of water can wear down a boulder. As the stagnation breaks apart, any associated health problem will resolve.
These exercises are a good starting point for all that will come next. Even without a known health problem to remedy, the waves generated by tapping and patting gently relax and open the body, remove restrictions and make it easier to do the more challenging exercises.
1. Tapping and Patting the Outter Legs (Yang surfaces)
Purpose
Physical: Relaxes and softens body tissues, promotes blood circulation in the legs, prepares the legs for later exercises.
Energetic: Breaks up local qi stagnation, promotes qi flow through the Gall Bladder, Stomach, and Spleen meridians of the leg. The Spleen is one organ which engenders blood and thus assists in the physical purpose of this exercise. The Spleen and Stomach dominate the muscles, and the Gall Bladder (along with the Liver) dominates the tendons and ligaments, so this will energetically condition those body tissues.
Technique Used
Paidagong.
Method
Sit on the floor, legs extended in front of you. Curl the fingers of both hands into soft fists, not tightly clenched, with a little sense of space at
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