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Exercises Dancing with the elements

Four elements

Dance with all four elements in turn, with your whole body.

Rhythm: Root, flow, sway, warm

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How does it help?

A dance with the four elements, with your whole body and your breath: root, flow, sway, warm. Each element takes about a minute in its own scene, and a soft figure shows the movement. The breath is the same in all of them: 4 seconds in, 6 seconds out, and the numbers beside the big word count it. In Earth you lift your heels, shift your weight from side to side and reach your arms to the sky while the vines rise with you. In Water you face the sea, rise tall with the wave and reach forward. In Air you turn from your hips, roll down one vertebra at a time, sway at the bottom and roll back up. In Fire you open your chest, open your arms to the sides and, at the end, hold yourself. The movements are inspired by tai chi, qigong and Pilates. Each element has its own info box behind the ? on its card.

About the elements

In Earth, climbing vines (clematis) on both sides rise with your breath; at the end they meet above your head and bloom. In Water you stand on a moonlit shore and the waves come and go with your breath. In Air the trees and grass sway with you. Fire is a warm light in your chest that rises and falls with your breath.

Safety

Don't force your breath; if you feel dizzy or short of breath, stop and breathe normally.

Earth · Root

Rhythm: heels, weight, roots, arms to the sky, vines

Settles your feet on the ground and lifts your arms to the sky.

How it works

In the first breath you lift your heels as you breathe in and lower them as you breathe out; the calf muscles help you stand on your toes (Cleveland Clinic), and the NHS (the UK's National Health Service) also lists this "calf raise" among strength exercises to do at home to improve health and mobility. In the second and third breaths your weight moves left on the inhale and right on the exhale, and you notice how your soles meet the floor.

In the last three breaths, as you breathe in (4 s) your diaphragm moves down, your ribs widen and your arms rise in front of you toward the sky; as you breathe out (6 s) your arms float out to the sides like branches and a soft light descends from the crown of your head, settling your weight into your feet. You finish standing calmly and still.

A review of 14 randomized trials of Baduanjin linked it, in middle-aged and older adults, to better balance and grip strength; about six breaths a minute is linked to feelings of comfort and relaxation. Picturing calm images such as light is a well-known relaxation method (the US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health).

Safety

Lift your heels only as far as is comfortable, slowly and with control; let your arms rise only as high as is comfortable and keep your knees slightly bent.

Traditional root

The heel raise resembles the last movement of Baduanjin (Eight Pieces of Brocade) and the rising hands its first; the calm standing finish comes from the Wuji stance of the Shibashi qigong set.

Sources

Water · Flow

Rhythm: facing the sea, reach forward with the wave, rise tall

You rise and sink together with the wave.

How it works

At the shoreline, in a long step stance with one foot forward, you move with the waves. As you breathe in (4 s) your weight shifts back, your body rises, your chest widens and your arms open out to the sides at shoulder height; as you breathe out (6 s) your torso leans forward from the hips with a long back, your front knee bends over your foot, and your arms sweep forward and low toward the water.

The Royal Osteoporosis Society (a UK osteoporosis organisation) describes bending forward from the hip with the back kept straight as a safe way to bend; according to the University of Florida, this hip hinge can help strengthen the muscles at the back of the hips and legs.

After two breaths your legs switch; in the last breaths, as in Qishi, your arms float up in front to shoulder height, your palms and knees sink, and the sea becomes a mirror. The Torbay guide from the NHS (the UK's National Health Service) describes tai chi as a "moving meditation" that brings calm and peace of mind; the VA (the US Department of Veterans Affairs) says tai chi can help with relaxation, balance and flexibility.

Safety

Keep your back long and your movement smooth and controlled, and stay within your comfortable range; come up slowly.

Traditional root

The wave movements resemble the Shibashi qigong movements "pushing the waves" and "scooping from the sea"; the last breaths resemble Qishi, the opening movement of the Yang-based 24-form tai chi.

Sources

Air · Sway

Rhythm: turn from the hips, roll down, sway, roll up

You let go one vertebra at a time and sway with the wind.

How it works

The movement lasts 72 seconds. First, over two breaths, you turn from your hips to one side and then the other: hips, chest, and your head last. Then, breathing in, you reach up, and breathing out you roll down one vertebra at a time with your chin coming toward your chest: your neck, mid-back and lower back let go in turn; the mid-back is the part of the spine that turns the most but bends forward the least. At the bottom, for one breath, your body sways gently back and then forward; your hips come forward and your knees soften.

Rolling up, your tailbone tucks under, your lower belly draws in gently and your pelvic floor lifts gently; over two exhales your vertebrae stack from the bottom up, head last, and at the end you turn to face front again. The spine moves only on the exhales and the inhale is a moment of softening: as you breathe in (4 s) your ribs widen and the pelvic floor relaxes; as you breathe out (6 s) the movement becomes clearest (NHS, the UK's National Health Service).

NHS hospital leaflets include rounding the upper back as the chin comes toward the chest among exercises to help improve movement in the middle of the spine (Cambridge University Hospitals). About six breaths a minute is linked to feelings of comfort and relaxation (Zaccaro 2018).

Safety

Come up slowly, head last. If you have osteoporosis, hinge gently from the hips with a flat back instead of rounding your spine; if you are pregnant, check with a healthcare professional; if you feel pain or dizziness, stop the movement.

Traditional root

Rolling down and up vertebra by vertebra is inspired by the Pilates "roll down", part of "the art of controlled movements".

Sources

Fire · Warm

Rhythm: open your chest, arms to the side, hug yourself

Light spreads from your heart; at the end you hold yourself.

How it works

For six breaths you open your chest and return to your heart. In the first two breaths your arms open to the sides. In the next two your hands meet at the heart; as your weight shifts onto one leg, your arms reach first to the left and then to the right, and your chest opens toward the side you reach. In the fifth breath both arms open upward in a V, in the centre. At the end you wrap your arms around yourself, and the light wraps around you too.

As you breathe in (4 s) the diaphragm descends, the ribs open forward and sideways, the shoulder blades draw gently toward each other and you grow taller; as you breathe out (6 s) your hands return to your heart: about six breaths a minute. In the hug, your shoulders and upper arms receive a soft pressure.

Breathing slower than 10 breaths a minute has been linked, in healthy people, to greater relaxation and alertness; a longer exhale than inhale was reported, in a 30-person study, with more relaxation. Twenty seconds of self-soothing touch (a hand on the chest, belly or upper arms) has been linked to a lower cortisol (stress hormone) response after stress in 159 healthy adults.

Safety

Raise your arms only as high as feels comfortable, keep the touch as gentle as feels right, and stay with your own breathing rhythm.

Traditional root

In the Five Element tradition, Fire is paired with the heart. The movements are adapted from the qigong Fire exercise "Opening the Heart" and the "Dancing with Rainbow" form of Tai Chi Qigong Shibashi.

Sources