Fighting Parkinson’s, and the Recipe in-depth, part 1

I intend to take each part of the Recipe, physical, mental, and spiritual, and explain why it is in the Recipe and what it is doing for you in your recovery, deeply drilling down to the how and why it is helping you recover from Parkinson’s. Today is the first part: Medical Qigong for the Liver.

For those of you new to the blog, when I say “the Recipe,” I am talking about the Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery®. Click here to review the full version of the Recipe.

PLEASE NOTE: Medical Qigong for the liver is the most important Qigong in the physical part of the Recipe, plus today’s post also provides some important background information. As a result, today’s post is quite lengthy. Do not be concerned that all of the subsequent posts this month will be this lengthy. They will not.

Medical Qigong for the liver.

1. Hold hands in front of your navel like holding a small ball.

2. Slowly raise hands to slightly above eye level.

3. Lower each hand to chest at lowest level of ribs directly in line straight down from nipples.

4. While pressing palms against ribs, rotate hands six times in one direction and then six times in the other direction. Leaving palms where they are, alternate bending toward the sides four times to each side.

5. Lower palms to lowest point on ribs on each side of the body directly in line straight down from arm pits.

6. While pressing palms against ribs, rotate hands six times in one direction and then six times in the other direction. Overlap hands against your body just below the bellybutton, alternate bending forward the and backwards four times each.

7. Put hands on knees, trace bone down front of leg, when reaching ankle, lift hands and point fingers at toes. Straighten back up.

Repeat 1. through 7. sequence ten times. It may take a while to be able to work up to ten. The idea is to go slow and easy and stop before over-doing it. Your body will tell you when to stop, and eventually you will achieve ten repetitions (I was able to do 4 repetitions when I started and it took a couple of weeks to work my way up to 10).

A little background will help with the explanation of his Medical Qigong. According to the Chinese body clock, each organ is at its peak of functioning in a two-hour window of time during the day. The gallbladder is from 11pm until 1am and the liver is from 1am until 3am. So, from 11pm until 3am, your liver and gallbladder are at their peak of cleaning toxins from your body. This is a good time to be at rest.

Click here for a graphic of the liver meridian.
Click here for a graphic of the gallbladder meridian.

1. Hold hands in front of your navel like holding a small ball.
2. Slowly raise hands to slightly above eye level.
Purpose: Focus. Intention. Grounding. When you bring your hands in front of your navel like holding a small ball and then raise them slightly above eye level, your focus is directed inward; your intention is directed toward the Qigong, and you are solidly grounded in the exercise.

3. Lower each hand to chest at lowest level of ribs directly in line straight down from nipples.
4. While pressing palms against ribs, rotate hands six times in one direction and then six times in the other direction. Leaving palms where they are, alternate bending toward the sides four times to each side.
If you look at the liver meridian graphic, you are pressing against LV 14. You want to stimulate this point as a way to say, “Wake up. I know it is not between 1am and 3am, but I am toxic with this Parkinson’s, and I want to strengthen you and have you assist me with another cleansing of toxins. Thank you.” You then do the circles to generate energy in the liver meridian. If you cannot press, or if you cannot do circles, do not worry. Your goal in this part is to stimulate the meridian point. You can rub your hands up and down or side to side, or you can press with your fingertips. Any of those is okay.

When you bend to the right, you are stretching and pulling, and then releasing, the liver meridian that is running up the inside of your left leg. When you bend to the left, you are stretching and pulling, and then releasing, the liver meridian that is running up the inside of your right leg. This strengthens the meridian, strengthens your liver, and assists in opening up blockages in the meridian. If doing this causes your tremors to increase, that is okay. As you are creating more energy flow in the meridian, it can cause tremors to increase when the energy (electricity) hits blockages.

5. Lower palms to lowest point on ribs on each side of the body directly in line straight down from arm pits.
6. While pressing palms against ribs, rotate hands six times in one direction and then six times in the other direction. Overlap hands against your body just below the bellybutton, alternate bending forward the and backwards four times each.
If you look at the gallbladder meridian graphic, you are pressing against GB 25. You want to stimulate this point as a way to say, “Wake up. I know it is not between 11pm and 1am, but I am toxic with this Parkinson’s, and I want to strengthen you and have you assist me with another cleansing of toxins. Thank you.” You then do the circles to generate energy in the gallbladder meridian. If you cannot press, or if you cannot do circles, do not worry. Your goal in this part is to stimulate the meridian point. You can rub your hands up and down or side to side, or you can press with your fingertips. Any of those is okay.

When you bend forward, you are stretching and pulling, and then releasing, the part of the gallbladder meridian that is running up your legs. When you bend backwards, you are stretching and pulling, and then releasing, the part of the gallbladder meridian that is running up the sides and front of your body. This strengthens the meridian, strengthens your gallbladder, and assists in opening up blockages in the meridian. If doing this causes your tremors to increase, that is okay. As you are creating more energy flow in the meridian, it can cause tremors to increase when the energy (electricity) hits blockages. Please note, my balance was so poor, I could not bend backwards…I still had a full recovery.

7. Put hands on knees, trace bone down front of leg, when reaching ankle, lift hands and point fingers at toes. Straighten back up.
If you look at the liver meridian graphic, you will see that you are helping push energy down the meridian to remove blockages — you are tracing LV 7-4 before lifting your hands and pointing at your toes. This assists in clearing blockages.

Repeat 1. through 7. sequence ten times. It may take a while to be able to work up to ten. The idea is to go slow and easy and stop before over-doing it. Your body will tell you when to stop, and eventually you will achieve ten repetitions (I was able to do 4 repetitions when I started and it took a couple of weeks to work my way up to 10).
This is a reminder to be kind to yourself and to remember that your best is good enough. In case you have forgotten, please click here for a refresher on your best being good enough.

Some things to know about this Qigong. It is Medical Qigong. I did a brocade of Qigong for 10 years before I got Parkinson’s, so I knew that basic Qigong was not going to help me get rid of Parkinson’s. This Qigong is designed to heal and strengthen your liver and gallbladder so they can function better. The emotions of stress, anger, frustration, and resentment are linked to these organs. As you perform Medical Qigong for the liver, you may experience emotional toxin release as well, which in some instances has brought people to the point of tears. This is okay; you needn’t be afraid or embarrassed…you are healing yourself.

Also, what you need to realize is that you are providing your liver and gallbladder, and your body, the tools and materials to perform a repair job, a remodeling of sorts. If you hire a contractor to remodel your kitchen and he provides you a list of tools and materials, you buy the tools and materials, provide them to the contractor, and leave him alone to do the remodeling. If you stand there and try to tell him how to do his job, nothing good comes from that. You hired him because he is the professional, and you need to have trust and faith that he will do the remodel properly. Treat your body the same way.

You are providing your body tools and materials to do the remodel. DO NOT try to tell your body how to do it. When the contractor breaks through your drywall to get to the old plumbing to yank it out so the new plumbing can be put in place, if you stand there and cringe and lose faith that he knows what he is doing because he just smashed in your kitchen wall, and as a result you question his professionalism and abilities, the remodel will be a disaster.

Such is the same with your body. If you provide the tools and materials (the Recipe), and then you question your body’s ability to take those tools and materials and heal you because you feel some pain or stiffness or you shake more, essentially questioning your body’s professionalism and abilities, the remodel (your recovery) will be a disaster. Do not lose trust and faith because of symptoms “feeling or looking worse” as this often is nothing more than a sign that you have increased your energy flow and your body is healing itself. I would imagine that if the drywall in your kitchen had feelings, it would be shaking and feeling a lot of pain when getting hit by the sledgehammer. However, the remodel cannot take place without getting through the drywall to fix the plumbing.

Okay! That’s it!

Be kind to yourself this holiday season. Click here for a refresher on letting go of your holiday stress.

You are worth it!!!

I will be back soon.

All my best,

Howard