Exercise for body relaxation in qigong complexes is allocated in a special section. The ability to properly relax the body is considered the key to health in this philosophy.
Perhaps many people are skeptical about such practices, because for European countries, physical exercises that came from the East are not completely clear due to a special philosophical and psychosomatic approach. I agree that, of course, before borrowing something from another culture, it is worth studying and checking what effect certain practices have on the body and mental state.
Those exercises for body relaxation, which are presented in this article, have long been widely used in European practices. They are safe and can be used both in the morning to wake up the body, and in the evening or during the day to relieve tension.
The exercise for body relaxation is called “Patting the trunk”.
Let’s stand up freely. The arms are lowered, the back is straight. Feel the top of your head, which stretches upwards without effort. But at the same time it keeps your spine straight. The shoulders are relaxed. Hands like whips. It is with them that we will do body pats.
To get into the main stand, take a step to the side with your left foot, about shoulder width apart. Close your fingers into an “empty” fist. That is, the fingers are closed, but there is free space inside the fist. Close your eyes and focus on doing the exercise. We breathe calmly and slowly.
There are five movements in total. They are paired. That is, they are performed when turning in one direction and the other.
The main movement is turns in the lower back – left – right. At the same time, the hands seem to hang freely, and when turning, they tap on the body. Moreover, the hand that is in front of the torso strikes it with the inner part of the fist. And the hand that is located on the back side is the outer part of the fist.
1 movement.
From the initial position, we turn the trunk to the left: the right hand ” slaps” on the pubis, the left on the coccyx. We do the same in the other direction. Without stopping, we perform 8 such cycles. With this movement, we activate the work of two channels: anterior-median and posterior-median.
Pubic and coccyx area
2 movement.
Continuing the first movement, we turn the trunk to the left, but now the hands rise higher. The right hand hits the stomach at the navel level, the left hand hits the cretz area. We repeat everything to the right side. We do 8 such cycles in total. We activate the work of the intestines and relax the lower part of the trunk.
Navel level and sacrum area
3 movement
We also continue the previous exercise, but we raise our hands even higher: the area of floating ribs and the lower back. And we also repeat 4-8 times. We activate the work of the channels of the liver, spleen and kidneys
Floating ribs and lower back level
4 movement
We continue to make turns. The arms are raised even higher: in front – the area between the nipples, from the back-between the shoulder blades, as soon as possible. We also repeat 4-8 times
The area between the nipples and shoulder blades
5 movement
Here, hands are patted on the collarbone and back muscles, at such a height as you can reach. But! Patting is performed not with a fist, but with an open palm. The movement is also performed 4-8 times. This movement relaxes the clamps of the neck and thoracic spine.
The area of the clavicle and back muscles. The hand is open
Now we “go back ” down, performing all the movements in the opposite direction. At the same time, the number of repetitions can be chosen arbitrarily, as it will be comfortable for you.
The benefits of the exercise
1. We relax the body, thereby removing the clamps and pains of the body
2. Tapping and free movement of the hands, combined with a slight turn of the trunk, relieves tension in the cervical and thoracic regions. Which is especially important for those. who works for a long time in a sitting position, at the computer. The result of such hard work is often a curvature of the spine. Therefore, it is advisable to perform this exercise several times during the working day.
3. Exercise activates the work of the channels of the kidneys, spleen, liver and intestines.