Chinese Healing Exercises by Steven Cardoza Read Free Book Online Page A

even. The top of your foot will not visibly compress as much as the sole did because of natural bony restrictions. Return your thumbs to the midline of the sole, and repeat the spreads two more times, for a total of three. Then move your hands toward your ankle, to the middle of your foot, and repeat the three spreads in that location. Finally, move your hands closest to your ankles, and do three final spreads.
    Figure 1.11 (Centerline Fold and Spread)
    5. Palm Rub, Laogong to Yongquan (Bubbling Well)
    Purpose
    Physical: Warms and brings blood to the bottom of the foot, softens and opens the tissues.
    Energetic: Stimulates qi flow, brings qi to K1, the Bubbling Well point. Physically and energetically prepares the foot for the next exercise.
    Techniques Used
    Friction massage, qi stimulation, induction, and sensitization.
    Method
    Seated as before with right leg crossed over left knee, with the right palm on the top surface of the right toes, grasp the right toes, wrapping your thumb around your big toe. Gently bend the toes back to stretch the sole of the foot. Place the palm of your left hand on the sole of your foot, so that the Laogong point at the center of the palm is roughly over the Bubbling Well point ( Fig 1.12 ). Quickly and vigorously rub your palm back and forth over the sole of your foot. The movement does not need to be a large one. Try to make your Laogong point cross the Bubbling Well point with each back and forth motion. Do this one hundred times unless your hand tires before then. It will only take about a half a minute if you move your hand fast enough.
    A variation, especially useful if you suffer from cold hands and feet, is to rub the palms of your hands together first, to warm them and bring more qi to them before rubbing the sole of your foot. Rubbing your hands together in this way is a common method to bring qi to your hands and sensitize Laogong, often done before beginning a variety of energy practices.
    Figure 1.12 (Palm Rub, Laogong to Yongquan—Bubbling Well)
    6. Pumping the Bubbling Well Point
    Purpose
    Physical: Locally, of minimal importance. If there is a physical restriction at the ball of your foot, common in many people, this will reduce it. If you feel some tenderness at the point where you are applying pressure, that’s an indicator that you’re on the right spot.
    Energetic: This point has a variety of functions, so its energetic purposes are fairly extensive. It is the main point to stimulate the rising of qi, and as such it is called a “revival point,” used to awaken the mind from fainting or unconsciousness, or to focus and ease when a person has had a shocking, destabilizing experience. Even in less serious circumstances, it will stimulate the mind and provide a natural energizing effect. This is one aspect of its being the first point of the Kidney meridian, which ends within the brain. In what might seem paradoxical, it also exerts a strong calming effect on the mind, useful for reducing anxiety.
    For people who practice qigong, martial arts, or other physical disciplines that have an inherent energetic nature, the more open this point becomes, the easier it is to connect with the earth to ground and draw the earth’s energy upward. If you practice any of those arts and have some difficulty in grounding or perceiving qi flows up your legs, practice this for a few weeks and you’ll feel the improvement. While all the foot exercises may be of some help, this one provides a particularly strong benefit in that regard. The traditional functions of this point are mainly focused on its mental and emotional benefits, but it will strengthen all the functions associated with the kidneys, and by extension the urinary bladder, which is the Yang organ paired with the kidneys. Some of these include normalizing urination, improving sexual vitality and/or desire, reducing back pain, and strengthening the bones. Those will become more pronounced when adding other