First some photos that may be of use to clarify stuff from last week as well as this. When rotating, stretching or shaking from the ankle make sure that you hug the foot closely to you so that it is part of you - when you move so do they.
We spent a bit more time with the Makka-ho stretches and hopefully you have remembered which the easy stretch was and are doing it and the complementary exercise for the hardest stretch.
During the morning we also experimented with a circle of energy. Stand with your arms in front of you and connect your palm. Press the palms together as hard as possible and ask a partner to try and separate them. Feel how the focus of the energy is in the hands. Now connect the palms again but imagine energy travelling around a circle so that one hand has energy leaving it and the other receives the energy and the circle continues through your body back to the original hand. Keep this image strong in your mind and ask your partner to separate your hands again. Hopefully you will not only be stronger but you will not feel a focus of effort. The energy is absorbed by the whole.
When giving Shiatsu we try to create this circle. One hand is the mother, the receptive, listening hand and the other is the working hand. The circle then consists of the working hand sensing into the receivers energy for a connection and the mother hand listening for the energy to arrive. The circle will be complete once you join the two hands and the receiver will sense a larger self than if you simply work with one hand or focusing on only one. Two handed connection is critical to Shiatsu.
We recapped working down the front of the leg with the variation of stepping across and working the leg on the opposite side. Remember that when using this position (when kneeling on the receivers right use your right leg on the other side and work their left leg) you are in quite a yang position so be aware of the pressure you use.
Stretch, rotate and shake the leg when you get to the ankle and then work the other leg in the same way. If this is not comfortable then go back to working the leg nearest you.
After doing both legs do a 2 leg stretch and then move forward so that the receivers feet are resting on your lap. Out your hands under the knees and gently lean back, move your hands toward the ankles and lean again and repeat until your hands are back under the ankles. Again put your hands under the knees but this time lift the knees at the same time as moving forward so that their feet stay in contact with your hara and when the knees are bent enough you can put their feet on the floor. Keep contact with the side of the knees so that you can work with their breath. Ask them to take a breath in and then out. On the out let their knees slowly drop to one side (make sure you are stable enough to support them at all times). On the next in breath lift the knees and then on an out breath take the knees to the other side. Now move around to the side and put your arm under their knees so that you can straighten them safely.
You should now be at the side of them again and you can connect with hara briefly. From here you are going to work their arm. Move their arm so that it is lying out to the side (see picture)
and work from the shoulder to the hand.After working the arm keep contact underneath close to the armpit and step over and turn so that you can kneel, on knee each side of the head, facing their feet and connect with both shoulders. From here you can simply move to the other side of the head from which you came, move their other arm out to the side and work as before.
This is as far as you got.
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