30 次
This exercise will loosen up the elbow and knee joints and allow qi to circulate smoothly in these joints.
Gently lift your left forearm and right knee. Follow with the right forearm and left knee for thirty repetitions (fifteen times each side).
10. Lift Arms and Legs (提上臂/提腿) (彎肘) 30 次
This exercise will loosen up the shoulder and hip joints and allow qi to circulate smoothly in these areas. Your shoulders and hips are two of the most important qi junctions (joints) that connect the qi channels from the limbs to the torso.
Lift your left arm and right leg gently. Follow with the right arm and left leg for thirty repetitions (fifteen times each side).
11. Close Arms/Knees Inward and Open Them Outward (展臂/展腿) (彎小腿) (雙展) 30 次
Because all the muscles/tendons on the hip joints connect to the lower back, this exercise will begin to loosen up the lower back area.
Bend both elbows and knees and then swing them inward and outward like a butterfly thirty times (fifteen times each direction).
12. Open and Close Single Arm/Knee (展臂/展腿) (彎小腿) (單展) 30 次
This exercise will begin to loosen the upper back area.
Keep your arms and legs bent. Open and close your arm and leg on one side and then the other side thirty times (fifteen times each side).
13. Swing Arms and Legs Opposite Sides (展臂/展腿) (並腿) (臂腿異向) 30 次
This torso-twisting exercise will open and loosen up all the muscles/tendons in your torso that connect to the hips.
Close your arms and legs and swing them in the opposite direction thirty times (fifteen times each side).
Waist/Hips14. Embrace Knees and Swing (Apanasana) (抱膝左右晃) 30次
This exercise will begin to stretch the torso and loosen it up, especially the lower back area.
Use both arms to embrace the knees or upper shin area and then swing them from side to side thirty times.
15. Pull Legs and Swing (Ananda Balasana) (拉腿左右晃) 30次
This exercise will enhance the stretching.
Use both hands to pull your legs upward around the ankle areas and then swing from side to side thirty times.
16. Embrace, Open, and Press Single Leg (Supta Kaptasana, Modified)
(單腿盤拉) (抱、張、壓) 30 秒
Use both hands to embrace the left leg for thirty seconds.
Next use the right hand to grab your left ankle and pull upward while using the left hand to push the left knee downward for thirty seconds.
Finally, use the leverage of both hands to circle the left leg ten times in each direction. Switch to the other leg, and repeat the same process.
Waist/Torso17. Sway Waist/Torso (晃腰/軀幹) (左右) 30 次
After the stretching exercises, this exercise will further release tension.
Keep your legs straight with both arms comfortably beside your torso. Sway your torso, especially your waist area, side to side thirty times.
18. Lift Waist (Setu Asana, Moving) (提腰) (彎膝) 30 次
This exercise begins the conditioning of the lower back structure including ligaments, muscles, and tendons.
Bend your knees and use the legs to support the torso’s weight in a bridge posture. Lift your waist up and down thirty times.
19. Circle Waist (Setu Asana, Circling) (腰繞圈) (彎膝) 每邊 20 次
This exercise continues to condition the lower back area. If you find this conditioning exercise and the lift-waist exercise too difficult, reduce the number of repetitions. Be careful not to harm your lower back. Listen to your body, and gradually increase the number of comfortable repetitions. Good soreness and comfortable pain are appropriate ways of conditioning. If the pain is too significant and soreness is too severe, it will only cause tightness and make the qi circulation more stagnant.
Still using the legs to support the lower back, circle the waist area clockwise twenty times and then reverse the direction for another twenty times.
20. Tighten and Loosen Hips/Perineum (Mula Bandha) (緊鬆胯部/穀道) 30次
This exercise is for the muscles/tendons that connect the hips and anus muscles. The most important aspect of this practice is to exercise your huiyin (會陰, CV-1) (perineum) cavity. It is well known in Chinese medicine and qigong that the huiyin cavity is the crucial key acupoint that controls the qi’s circulation in and out of the central body. This cavity acts as the piston of the pump for your main energy center, known as the lower real dan tian (下真丹田). When it is pushed out, the qi in the body is released, and when it is held upward, the qi stays in
