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Cure Your Cold Hands and Feet with Chi Gong
Rajitha Sivakumaran
We presently find ourselves in the middle of winter, the January winds have turned bitter and although snow lies in rare clumps around the city. The wintry weather is strong enough to paralyse even those of us with the thickest of skins. Sheltered though we are from the frost-clad exterior, wintertime tends to leave us with icy hands and feet. Although it is natural to have cold extremities while outside or immediately after you have returned from outside, chilled hands and feet on a long-term basis is cause for worry. Cold extremities are indicative of poor blood circulation, but simple exercises can be done to treat this.
The ancient Chinese medical practice of Chi Gong offers simple movements and postures to increase blood flow from head to toe. In their book Chi Gong: The Ancient Chinese Way to Health, psychiatrist Aristide H. Esser and instructor Paul Dong discuss such exercises. Here is one you can follow to alleviate coldness in your extremities:
Standing-On-Stake Chi Gong
This posture is suitable for nearly everyone, particularly the elderly, but it is not recommended for pregnant or menstruating women.
1. Start by orienting your body in a north-south direction.
2. Breathe normally. Unlike what you learned in your Yoga class, pay no attention to your breath here.
3. Legs should be placed at shoulder width and bent. Do not bend too much; you should be able to see your toes.
4. Spread your fingers and raise your arms, palms facedown, so that your forearms are parallel to the ground.
5. Close your eyes. If following the ways of traditional Chinese medicine, focus your attention on the dan tian* (area just below the navel). Or else, keep your eyes open and focus on an object in the near distance.
6. Hold this position for twenty minutes and repeat the pose three times daily. Beginners can start off with a smaller duration until they develop more leg strength and gradually add five minutes to their practice.
7. Terminate the exercise by opening your eyes and reverting to a natural standing position. According to tradition, this is followed by some additional steps:
a. Rub your hands until they are warm.
b. Wipe your face twelve times with them.
c. Place your palms over your eyes and in a single wiping motion, move them from your face to the back of your neck.
d. Then go for a 10-minute walk.
Does it really work?
The effectiveness of this posture can be validated very easily. Stand erect for about twenty minutes without bending your arms and legs and notice the sensations. Does your body feel warmer? Now bend your appendages as described above. There are markedly different sensations coursing through your body because the pose, although a still exercise, actively promotes internal movement.
The Science behind the Pose
When the arms and legs are bent, the associated muscles and tendons contract, and this promotes blood flow and enlarges blood capillaries. Don’t know what capillaries are? Watch this 3-minute video:
This is substantiated by the increased warmth you feel while performing the pose. The authors state that one hour in this pose can increase red blood cell count by 1.5 million, white blood cell count by 3600 and hemoglobin by 3.2 grams / cm³ blood. Even the north-sound orientation has a scientific explanation; it ensures alignment with the magnetic field of the earth, increasing the effectivity of the pose.
* The dan tian is an acupoint located just below the navel used in traditional Chinese medicine. For more information and its importance in Chi Gong, consult Chi Gong: The Ancient Chinese Way to Health.
The author would like to thank Theresa Manuel for her image contribution.
