of the breathing; a sense of space and rhythm and right-left perception can arise. The patient finds their balance.
INDICATIONS
Pneumonia prophylaxis; acute life crises; psychophysical exhaustion; apoplexy; paraplegia.
Particularly suitable for children and the elderly.
NOTE
The spine must not be touched or crossed!
3. The Good Night lemniscate
Remaining on the left side of the patient, the upper part of the back is covered again and the buttocks are uncovered roughly up to the coccyx.
My left hand rests lightly on the patient’s left shoulder during the entire treatment. Positioning my right hand underneath the sacroiliac joint (Articulatio sacroiliaca), I perform a small lemniscate that runs transversely across the back.
Ill. 8
My fingers always point to the right side of the patient. I start at the lemniscate’s center-point and follow the loop first to the right, then to the left.
Each loop begins with an emphasis of the lower arc. When immersed in the tissue, my hand – beginning with the tips of the fingers, then through the middle of the hand to the heel of the hand– nestles itself completely to the body’s shape.
My hand disengages from its emphasis at the outside right and glides quietly in the reverse order (heel of the hand– middle of the hand – fingertips) through the upper loop back to the intersection point. There it dips back into the tissue at the beginning of the left loop.
The emphasis is again released on the outside left. With the fingertips again leading – as in the beginning – the lemniscate is finally completed with the upper loop.
Ill. 9
My hand always remains in loose and warm contact with the skin. In its dynamic, the movement breathes between emphasis (below) and release (above).
After performing this several times, I finish the Einreibung after a right loop with a downstroke from the mid-point.
During this downstroke, too, my fingers point to the right side of the patient.
EFFECT
Relaxing; soothing; stimulating sleep. The warming of the gluteal muscles stimulates the flow of warmth into the feet.
INDICATIONS
Sleep disturbance due to cold feet; decubitus prophylaxis.
NOTE
The wrong emphasis (upwards) would stimulate kidney activity, i.e. excretion, too strongly!
Einreibung of the back in prone position
The patient lies covered on their stomach; a roll is placed under the arch of the feet so that they are not overstretched and the lumbar spine musculature is thus relieved. Immediately before the Einreibung, the back is uncovered; after the treatment it is covered again.
4. Downstroke on the back
I now stand on the left side of the patient. In all other respects, the execution of the back downstroke with the patient in a prone position is identical to the back downstroke while sitting, as already described.
The effects and indications are also similar.
5. Two-handed circles on the back
Standing to the left of the patient, I place both hands between the shoulder blades and then circle them down the spine in continuous loops.
Both loops are phase-shifted, clockwise. My fingers always point towards the head.
In initiating the movement, my right hand moves to the upper right, the left hand moves to the bottom left.
During the circles, the previous loop is partially overlapped, that is, included. (However, the spine must not be touched or crossed!)
Ill. 10
In their dynamics, the circling movements reach their climax at the farthest point from the spine at the far outside on the sides of the back.
Thus my hand contact while enclosing the ribcage comprises the greatest engagement on the outside, while a supporting ‘gesture of levity’ arises on the inside:
For a moment, therefore, the flow of the motion comes to halt so that something ‘musical’ flows into the movement and the patient can feel a sense of inner expansiveness.
Then I release and finish the two circles by swinging my hands back to the spine. In conclusion, after several loops, I stroke the outer sides of the hip area downwards with both hands simultaneously. The whole execution is repeated several times.
EFFECT
Animation and stimulation of the breathing; harmonisation; a sense of expansiveness arises.
INDICATIONS
Asthma; respiratory disorders; neurasthenia; fears; fatigue; convalescence.
NOTE
The emphasis is created at the periphery of the back, not near the spine!
Variations of two-handed circles on the back
In a variation, the two-handed circles on the back can also be counterclockwise. Here my right hand starts towards the lower right, the left hand towards the upper left.
The emphasis does not change as a result; it still stays at the periphery of the back.
EFFECT
Enlivens and stimulates the circulation; a feeling of finding oneself again arises.
INDICATIONS
Circulatory disorders, listlessness, hyperactivity, hysteria.
6. The Good Morning lemniscate
In this Einreibung, the upper back is covered; the lower back and buttocks remain uncovered approximately to the coccyx.
I remain in my position on the patient’s left side. Throughout the treatment, my left hand rests lightly on the left side of the patient’s waist.
During the Einreibung, the fingertips of my right hand are placed to the right of the lower lumbar vertebrae, creating there a permanent centre of rest.
The actual movement comes from theheel of my hand which describes a ‘harmonious eight’ form below thefingertips. It starts in the middle with the loop to the bottom right, at the same time dipping in to engage.
Ill. 11
This emphasis is released towards the outside halfway up the right loop. With warm skin contact, the heel of the hand now glides over the top inwards in the direction of the spine.
Ill. 12
On the arc downwards – away from the spine – I engage again and then slide theheel of my hand softly over the sacrum.
This engagement continues up half the height of the second loop. At the outer arc, I release it again until the left loop descends inwards towards the spine.