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

exercises and practices that benefit the kidneys.
    Technique Used
    Acupressure

    Figure 1.13A and 1.13B (Pumping the Bubbling Well Point)
    Method
    Seated as before with right leg crossed over left knee, place the tip of your right thumb directly on the Bubbling Well point. Maintaining contact with the Bubbling Well point, position your thumb so the thumb tip is perpendicular to the Bubbling Well point ( Fig 1.13A ), and the first joint is bent at about 90 degrees. Gently grasp your right foot, the palm and fingers of your right hand on the top surface of your foot, down from your toes and as close to your ankle as is comfortable.
    Place your left hand so that the Laogong point contacts the bent joint of your right thumb. Your left thumb points upward and contacts your toes while the fingers of your left hand curl around your upper foot by the margin of your toes, above the fingers of your right hand ( Fig 1.13B ). By squeezing your left hand, your left palm will push the tip of your right thumb directly into the Bubbling Well point with more force than you could easily manage with your right thumb alone. Using a pressure that is strong yet comfortable, squeeze your left hand and then release the squeeze rapidly, so that there is a pumping sensation at the Bubbling Well point. Repeat this up to a hundred times, rapidly enough that it would take you no more than a minute.
    Ankle Exercises, Seated, Active
    The previous exercises have all been passive; that is, you’ve used your hands to exert an effect on your feet, which have been the passive recipients of the work your hands have done. The next three exercises involve actively using the muscles in your feet and lower legs to mobilize your ankle joints. Regardless of the particular benefits of each exercise, these have the added advantage of drawing more blood into your feet, ankles, and lower legs. Blood always brings nutrition, oxygen, and qi in, and helps remove local toxic accumulations should any be present. It also helps lubricate the joints and muscles. That can help to relax those joints and muscles which may be stiff and achy from relative inactivity, effectively “dried out” from reduced blood flow. Conversely, in other people inactivity will make the blood and other body fluids pool, creating a swelling. The activity of these exercises will help pump out the pooled fluids, and over time will strengthen the muscles so whatever your foot and ankle concerns may be, they will improve and have a reduced likelihood of returning. While the passive exercises may bring some awareness into the body part being worked, the active exercises will deepen your relationship with that part of your body and give you more control over its functions. As a final benefit, many people find these helpful in promoting sleep when practiced just before bed. That’s because many types of poor sleep, restlessness, or insomnia are due to too much activity in the mind. Whenever there is activity, there is qi, and too much of that in the brain creates too much thought and mental agitation. The active aspect of these exercises brings the blood down to the feet, and it is the qi that moves and directs the blood, so qi is brought down out of the head. In cases where that is the cause of sleep disturbances, these exercises will remedy the problem.
    In each of these ankle exercises, a technique used is a simple daoyin, “guiding and inducing.” They induce the blood to move, and guide it downward toward the feet. Since qi is “the commander of the Blood,” qi is also induced and guided downward, as described in the preceding paragraph.
    These exercises are best practiced sitting on the floor, legs extended in front of you, and I will describe them that way. If your legs or back are too inflexible or painful to allow this, you can easily modify these by performing them while sitting in a chair, legs extended as far as is comfortable. Follow all the other instructions as