Benefits: Stretches the arm muscles and slims the waistline.
Posture: Begin in the same position that you were in for the centering ch’i 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 creating a space between the sky and the earth and, by touching each , you are connecting with the energies of both.
Pathways: Think of energy flowing into your trunk from the lower dan tien, through your shoulders, and up and down your arms traveling through all the pathways of your trunk, neck, and head, as well as those in the shoulders and arms.
- Begin with your hands resting on your thighs.
- Bring your right arm up with the palm facing the ceiling and at the same time press downward with your left hand, palm facing to the floor. Breathe in through your nose and expand your diaphragm.
- Bring both arms, elbows bent, to the level of your solar plexus. Breathe out through your mouth. Tighten your diaphragm and abdomen and hold until you need to breathe in again.
- Reverse your hands so that the left one reaches toward the ceiling this time and the right is pressing downward. Continue alternating sides, breathing in deeply as one arm ascends and the other descends.
Repetitions: Eighteen, or two sets of nine.
