Rubbing the Abdomen to Aid the Stomach The abdomen rubbing exercise is also called the method of curing diseases and prolonging life. It is a common technique used for health preservation among the Chinese and has been widely practised since the Qing Dynasty.
T
his exercise is intended to mainly accelerate the blood circulation in the abdomen and stimulate the nerve receptors on the membranes of the stomach and intestines this is done by rubbing certain acupoints and affected parts and massaging and pulling the internal organs directly. This causes the nevous system to be stimulated, thus promoting the contraction of the smooth muscles in the stomach and intestines. At the same time, it also helps promote the secretion of gastric juice, bile, pancreatic juice and small intestinal juice, improves the digestion and absorption of food by the stomach and intestines, and increases the liver’s metabolism of sugar, protein and fats. It helps cure certain gastro-intestinal diseases, including gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer, chronic gastritis, gastric and intestinal neurosis, inflammation if the colon and habitual constipation. Starting form: Sit or lie on your back. If sitting, keep the upper part of the body upright, feet on the ground and apart to a little wider than shoulder width. If lying, bend the knees slightly, feet slightly apart and heels on the bed. In winter, or when it is otherwise cold, lie on the bed with a quilt on or sit under the quilt with the clothes on.
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page 14 Qi Magazine Jul/Aug/Sep 2004
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Methods:
1. Rub Zhongwan: Put the cushions of the three middle fingers of the right hand on the pit of the stomach and press the three middle fingers of the left hand on them. Exert force with both hands and press-rub gently around the Zhongwan point (the midpoint on the anterior midline of the upper abdomen between the joint of the ribs and the navel clockwise 36 times. (Fig. 1) 2. Rub the navel: Massage gently the parts around the navel 18 circles clockwise, with the cushions of the three middle fingers of the right hand and the left hand fingers on the top of the right, starting from the left side of the navel. Then change to the left hand, start from the right side of the navel and rub gently around the navel counter-clockwise 18 times. 3. Rub the Qihai and Guanyuan acupoints (Fig. 1): Turnrub around with the cushions of the three middle fingers of the right hand and the left hand fingers on top of the right hand, starting from the Qihai acupoint downward to the lowerleft, past the Guanyuan acupoint, upward to the upper-right and back to Qihai. Massage this way 18 times. Then change to the left hand and turn-rub gently in the opposite direction 18 times. 4. Push the Ren channel (Fig.2) Push gently with the cushions of the three middle fingers of one hand (the three middle fingers of the other hand on top of them) from the pit of the stomach, along the midline of the abdomen down to the joint of the pubic bones. Move the three middle fingers of the hands separately outward, and push–rub along the fossa iliaca upward along the line under the nipples to the rib-bows, then toward the pit of the stomach with the three middle fingers
of one hand on top of the other three middle fingers. This counts as one circle. Repeat this 36 times. Women do this exercise by using the turn-rubbing method. 5. Rub the entire abdomen (Fig. 3) : keep the left hand akimbo with the thumb in front (left hand in position when lying), push and rub gently from the lower right of the lower abdomen (the right fossa iliaca) with the right palm, past the right hypochondrium (above the breast line), the left
hypochondrium to the left side of the lower abdomen of the left fossa iliaca, and finally back to the lower right of the lower abdomen. This counts as a circle. Do this 18 times. And then change to the left palm and go along the same route in the opposite direction 18 times. 6. Point-press and rock: use these techniques to assist the above-described techniques to achieve an even better result.
Point-Press: Use two or three middle fingers of one hand to press the Zhongwan, Guanyuan and Qihai acupoints. Push the fingers downward and lift them up slowly. This is one repetition. Press each acupoint 5-7 times.
Push-press: Use the base of the palm to push and press the loins. Before pressing, put the hands on the loins, fingertips ahead and the thumbs tightly against the lower edge of the rib-bows. When push-pressing inward and forward energetically with the palm bases, the abdomen bulges, and when loosening the palm bases, the abdomen withdraws to its original position. This is one repetition. Do this 9 times in a row. (Fig.4)
Rock: Fig 3
Place the hands to the knees and sit with the legs crossed, rock the upper body clockwise 9 times and then counter clockwise 9 times, with the rocking range increased gradually. (Fig.5)
Number of times: Press-rub the abdomen two or three times a day, in the morning and in the evening. The number of times for each movement depends on your own physical condition. When disease occurs, greatly increase the number of times. If you have abdominal pain, you can increase it to several dozen or even several hundred times until the signs of the illness are eased or gone. In short, you should feel soothed, relaxed and free from fatigue after rubbing and pressing.
Points for attention:
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a. Concentrate the mind, focus the attention and breathe naturally. b. The movements should be gentle, slow and continuous. Do not exert too much force in order to avoid injuring the internal organs. c. Sometimes, during or after rubbing the abdomen, you may have intestinal gas, break wind, feel warm in the intestines or feel hungry or want to urinate or have a bowel movement. These are normal reactions, because the peristalsis of the stomach and intestines changes the physical functions. Do not worry about it. d. Contra-indications: Women should not rub their abdomen when they are pregnant. Patients suffering from malignant tumours, gastric and intestinal perforation, internal organ bleeding or peritonitis must not rub their abdomen. Also, do not rub the affected part of the abdominal wall if there is an acute infection. Women can rub their abdomen during the menstrual period, but they should be sure not to catch a cold. It is not good to rub the abdomen when you are too hungry or too full. If you want to urinate or have a bowel movement, please do so before rubbing by Zeng Qingnan & Liu Daoqing Qi Magazine Jul/Aug/Sep 2004 page 15
