Chinese Healing Exercises by Steven Cardoza Page B

up, mirroring the arc in your elbow. In fact, the movement should come from your shoulder blade as much as you are able.
    The movement of your arm will pull your left hand through your right. Feel for the pull and stretch of the left palmar aponeurosis. To begin with, target your little finger with your right hand so it is bent backward and stretched as it passes between your right thumb and fingers. Pull your little finger entirely free of your right hand, and then return to the starting position and repeat twice more still focusing on the little finger. Then, by positioning your right hand just a little closer to your left thumb, repeat the left arm movement three more times, focusing on the ring finger this time. Continue in this way through the middle and index fingers, extending and stretching each three times.
    I n order to extend and stretch your thumb, you will need to reposition both hands. Turn your left hand so that your palm faces the center of your chest, and your left thumb is pointed upward toward the sky. Place the weblike portion of your right hand between the thumb and index finger up against the weblike portion of the left hand. Grasp your left thumb with your right thumb and index finger. Once in this position, do not let your right hand move in space; keep it completely stationary. Move your left arm exactly as before, and that will pull your thumb through your right hand. Repeat two more times. Then, switch hands and do the above again to extend and stretch your right hand.
    3. Shake Out Fingers, Hands, and Arms
    Purpose
    Physical: Brings more blood into the hands, improves circulation, loosens tight muscles, softens tendons, relaxes ligaments.
    Energetic: Helps break up local pockets of stagnant qi and discharges it from your hands and fingers.
    Techniques Used
    Shaking/Vibration.
    Method
    Standing, or sitting in an armless chair or stool, let your arms hang comfortably at your sides. Keep your hands as relaxed as you are able, and do not actively engage any muscles in them. Keep your forearms as relaxed as possible too, since most of the muscles in the fingers and hands attach in the forearms. Using the muscles in your upper arms and shoulders, shake out your hands as though you are trying to shake off oil or anything similar stuck to your hands. Moving your hands in many directions (circles, forward and back, side to side) will provide the most thorough benefits. All of those directional motions should come from your upper arms and shoulders, not your wrists and hands, so if any direction is too awkward for you in the beginning, skip it for now rather than using any hand muscles.
    There’s no set amount of time you need to do this exercise, but you should do it long enough so that your hands feel noticeably looser and more relaxed. This is one instance where longer—up to a few minutes—may be better, as long as there is no pain.
    4. Wrist Rolls
    Purpose
    Physical: Opens the joint spaces in the wrists; promotes movement of the synovial fluids, helping to lubricate the wrist joints; further softens the tendons at the wrist.
    Energetic: Stimulates the arm Jing River points, primarily found at and slightly above the wrists. The Arm Jing River points are classically used to clear both heat and cold sensations, specifically centered around the chest. They are useful for cough, asthma, throat, and respiratory problems, especially those associated with heat or cold. They are also useful to help resolve local pain and are beneficial in treating arthritis and various types of tendinitis.
    Stimulates the Arm Shu Stream points. The Arm Shu Stream points are found at various places around the circumference of the hand, although the Yin Shu Stream points of the Lung, Pericardium, and Heart are directly at the wrist and are stimulated more strongly. Stream points are most commonly used to treat Bi syndromes (more colloquially called Painful Obstruction syndromes), which are often the same as or