The following description and commentary were provided to me by a student suffering from chronic back pain after having practiced this "set"for a week:
The Exercise:
Begins with the balanced stance, heels backstopped, weight balanced on feet, and shoulders relaxed, with maintenance of the perineum “U” which tensions the lumbar spine while keeping the abdominal and pelvic floor muscles released.
The wrists are then raised in the parasagittal planes as if being pulled upwards while the the forearms, elbows and shoulders remaining relaxed (i.e., the arms are *not* “floated up.”)
The height of the wrists determines where different organs (and their corresponding Elements) will be stimulated. Wrist height moves from the relaxed stance all the way to overhead (with elbows close to ears) which sequentially stimulates WateràWood / EarthàFireàMetal.
Height of wrists alters the level of tension in the spine:
Low: Kidney / Bladder (water)
Mid: Liver & Gall Bladder (Wood) / Stomach & Spleen (Earth)
Mid-High: Heart (Fire)
High: Lung Apices (Metal)
Commentary/Experience:
From a mechanical standpoint, I found that this exercise isolated tensioning forces in my lumbar and thoracic spine, creating additional space in my neuroforamina. Specifically, the paraspinal Interspinales and Intertransversarii muscles were tensioned (vs compressed) which elongated my spine. The decompression was immediate and notable with relief of *all* neurogenic pain, return of power to my lower limbs and significant rotational mobility of my spine.
Of importance was preventing a “flare-out” of my elbows (shoulder external rotation) in the highest wrist posture, as the altered tension on my scapular musculature impeded upper thoracic and cervical decompression. I am again gobsmacked at how these specific postures and exercises were discovered and integrated into health-inducing mechanisms based upon 5 Element Theory and Tensegrity mechanics… The West has much to learn!