Heaven and Earth Combine (8 Pieces of Brocade)

Video Transcript

Audio File

Wellness for Educators Podcast · Heaven and Earth Combine (8 Pieces of Brocade)

Instructions

Begin with feet together and one hand resting inside the other, palms up, in front of the body. Draw a deep breath into the abdomen; as you exhale, step out to the left to shoulder-width; spread the hands apart, rotating the palms to face down.
Place hands about 4-6 inches in front of the lower torso, the right directly above the left, palms aligned and separated by 10-12 inches, as if holding a ball.
As you inhale, draw the left arm up towards the sky inside of the right arm. Start lifting from the left elbow and then extend the left hand upward so that it presses against the sky, palm up.
Simultaneously with the above movement, drop the right hand down the center of the body until it extends fully, palm down, as if pressing against the floor. Palms should be in line with each other, bisecting the centerline of the body.
Keep shoulders down and relaxed as you complete this stretch at the end of your inhale. Look straight ahead or at the floor, keeping the neck relaxed.
As you exhale, turn palms to face each other and then let hands float down the center body until they are holding the imaginary ball again; this time the left hand is on top.
Inhale and repeat the exercise, this time drawing the right (bottom) hand up by the elbow and pressing down with the left (top) hand.
Continue to alternate sides as you breathe. Repeat as many times as feels good.
Close the exercise by inhaling and sweeping the arms up and out from the sides of the body until the hands hover just above the head, palms down. Exhale and slowly draw both hands down and towards the Dantian (the body’s energy storehouse), located one and a half inches below the navel. Align the palms and place both hands, palms-inward, over the Dantian as you take one more deep breath into the abdomen.
Step the left foot in towards the right to finish.

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