Benefits: Strengthen and tighten the arm muscles as well as opening the chest for deeper breathing.
Posture: Begin in the same position that you were in for the Butterfly exercise. At the point where your you move upward and over your head, arch your back away from the back of the chair until you begin to bring your arms out to the side and back to the front of your chest. Slowly press your back against your chair and tuck your hips underneath.
Visualization: Imagine that you are pushing backword against a wall. That wall is made up of the molecules of air, and you are once again exchanging energy with your immediate surroundings.
Pathways: In this exercise you are opening your chest once again to increase the inward flow of fresh air and the expulsion of toxins that may be trapped in the alveoli, the small sacs at the bottom of your lungs. Any toxic substances that you have inhaled will remain in the alvoli unless your breathing is sufficiently deep to root them out and expel them as you exhale. In addition, the backword swinging of your arms propels the energy down the meridian on the outside of your arms, through the middle finger and the juncture point on your palm. The energy then moves back up to your shoulders through the pathway that runs up the inside of your arms. You should feel a definite tingling in your hands when you have completed this exercise.
- Swing your arms backword with your palms facing the imaginary wall behind you.
- You are expending energy as you push your arms backward but making no effort as your arms move forward with the momentum created by the backward motion.
Repetitions: Twenty seven, or three sets of nine.
