The third lunar month of the year belongs to chen, fifth in the twelve earthly branches, and in addition corresponds to the Small Intestine Channel of Hand-Shaoyang in the jingluo system and mei in the sixty-four hexagrams. What you have to bear in mind in this month is that qi arises at 3 a.m. and you' d better face northeast, and with yang rising and yin receding all things develop. Be sure to go to bed and get up early every day in this month so as to nourish the visceral-qi, reinforce the liver and replenish the kidneys.
(1) Qingming (Pure Brightness)
The time between 1 and 5 a.m. every day in this month is good for the following exercise. Sitting cross-legged on bed, stretch out one arm to side and pull the other arm backward to form a bow-drawing position, with the hand in front turned into palm and the hand at the rear into fists. Return to the starting position and repeat the whole process 24 times on each side. Then click teeth, inhale and exhale deeply before swallowing saliva. This exercise is effective for pathogenic factors in the lower back, kidneys, intestines and stomach as well as deafness, stiffness in the neck, lassitude in the loin and leg and pain in the arm and elbow.
(2) Guyu (Grain Rain)
The time between 1 and 5 a.m. every day in this month is also good for the following exercise. Sitting cross-legged on bed, raise left arm as high as possible with palm turned up and place right palm in front of the left side of chest. Keep this posture for a whilst with an even breath. Re-turn to the starting position and repeating the whole process 35 times on each side. Then click teeth and breathe deeply before swallowing saliva. This exercise is good for blood stasis in the spleen and stomach, the yellow discoloration of the sclera, swollen cheeks, arthralgia and nosebleed.
