This wrist rolling exercise is designed to loosen the wrist joints. The exercise helps to promote softness and flexibility through the wrists, but if performed correctly, the exercise will work on movement and softness along the whole length of the arms, from the shoulders to the fingertips. As always we will encourage balance in the exercise so as to encourage balance in the body.
Begin with feet apart and the body relaxed. Sink the weight, feeling the feet on the ground. Allow the breath to sink to the belly and let it slow down naturally. Feel the shoulders soften and allow the arms to become light.
Raise the arms to a comfortable height in front of the torso.
Clasp the hands together. Pay attention to which hand comes on top.
Starting slowly, rotate through the wrists by gently lifting one, pushing it forward and relaxing down, followed by the same movement with the other.
Repeating the movements with the wrists, one after the other, building up a little speed, keeping them completely relaxed.
Come to a stop.
Next, begin the rotations in the opposite direction, raising one wrist and moving backwards and relaxing down, followed by the same movement with the other.
Repeating the movements with the wrists building up a little speed, keeping them completely relaxed.
Come to a stop.
Unclasp the hands.
Clasp the hands together again. This time bring the other hand on top.
Repeat these movements with the wrists again in both directions.
Unclasp the hands and bring the arms back to the sides to rest.
When performing this exercise try to relax the wrists as much as possible, keeping the movements fluid. As you become familiar with the movements of the wrists, pay more attention to relax along the whole length of the arms, through the elbows and the shoulders. Always try to feel the feet on the ground and the whole body soft and relaxed.
Author: Tina Faulkner Elders
Images: Tina Faulkner Elders
WRIST ROLLS VIDEO
More Qigong Exercise Videos and Instructions
This article is part one of the series Introduction to basic Qigong for beginners.
Two more stretching exercises with Tina we filmed a few years ago.