Health/Beauty

Item Description

Chinese Baoding Balls

Retail: $20.00

Two sets (small and medium) of Chinese Baoding Balls, also known as Exercise Balls, Worry Balls, Stress Balls, Lotus Balls, Melody Balls, Therapy Balls, Therapeutic Balls, Harmony Balls, Chiming Balls, Qigong Balls, Meditation Balls, Iron Balls, Miracle Balls, Reflex Balls, Baichi (valuable balls), Baodjan Chu (health balls).

Long famed as one of the "three treasures" of Baoding, China, these chrome chime balls are rotated in the palm to help increase circulation and promote a sense of inner calm. When turned with the fingers, the interior plates of the hollow balls create soothing musical tones.

Description

Chrome stainless steel health balls to stimulate the acupressure points in your hands which in turn leads to better blood circulation and are believed to relax muscles and joints and provide general well being. These ball sets measure 1 inch (25mm) and 1 1/2 inches (40mm) in diameter and each has a pleasant bell sound within. These are considered small and medium balls and are good as either a his/her set. Also it is best to start with the smaller balls and progress to the larger balls (note: advanced skills include using the two larger balls and one smaller ball, and both sets at the same time).

Hold these balls in one hand and rotate the two in circles in the palm of your hand. Simple directions are included. These ball sets come in a blue brocade gift box.

Ÿ Great for massaging or exercising your hands!

Ÿ Hits the pressure points in your hands

Ÿ Lightweight

Ÿ Chrome stainless steel, easy to keep clean

Ÿ Brocade outer box

Baoding Balls

Baoding balls are believed to have originated in Baoding, China, a small town in the Heibei province, during the reign of the Ming Dynasty. In Baoding, the balls were once dubbed Chinese Iron Balls, since at first the Baoding balls were made from iron.

Nowadays, Baoding balls are made from many kinds of materials yet remain light to carry. They are usually hollow and made from chrome-plated steel, with most containing a chime within as well. People sometimes call these chime balls or harmony balls.

Baoding balls are usually used for exercise and meditation, but are also good when employed for medical reasons. To use them for exercise, place two Baoding balls within your palm then rotate them clockwise and counterclockwise. Gravity will help you keep on controlling the balls. There are many exercises possible. One is trying to not to let the balls touch one another during manipulation, as advanced users do. Such users of Baoding balls can frequently use more than two balls at one time. Manipulating the balls in your hand not only exercises hand muscles, but forearm and shoulder muscles as well.

Alternative Medicine advocates believe that the balls are beneficial for medical reasons when they touch pressure points or acupuncture points found all over the hand. A practitioner of western medicine would find it hard to believe that such balls have health benefits, but it helps to realize that practitioners of Chinese medicine believe that all bodily systems are linked to one another. Chinese medicine advocates believe one should not just treat symptoms but rather should examine the root cause of the symptoms. In connection, Baoding balls could be prescribed by a Chinese doctor with a patient whose internal energy or Qi has stagnated and thus, caused the problems for the patient.

Most merchants of Baoding balls will inform you that the balls follow certain principles involving touching the meridians (just like in acupuncture or shiatsu massage). The meridians (known as Jingluo in Chinese traditional medical theory) act as channels or pathways via which Qi (vital energy within each person) moves throughout the body. These Jingluo meridians also feature the acupuncture points. Hence, touching each meridian will produce health benefits. Your ten fingers are interconnected with the human cranial nerve, as well as important human organs such as the intestines, stomach, gallbladder, kidneys, lungs, spleen, liver and heart. Thus, when the meridians are stimulated, there is improved circulation of vital energy and blood in our bodies.

Chinese practitioners claim that muscles remain nimble, bones are strengthened and the mind kept sober through prolonged usage of the health balls. Other benefits are blood circulates more freely, and different chronic diseases such as hypertension are kept from developing. In time (in terms of many years of practicing Baoding balls use) the brain becomes healthier and you will notice that your intelligence and memory improves. Furthermore, fatigue goes away, your worries disappear, stress is reduced, and in the end your life is extended.

The basic exercise is just to move the balls around in one hand. It will be easy to move them clockwise in the right hand and counter-clockwise in the left hand. It is easier to use smaller ones at first and then move up to the larger sizes. They can also be rotated in the opposite direction, which is quite a bit more difficult. The balls should always be in contact with each other (rather than clacking into each other). A more advanced exercise is to rotate them without letting them touch each other. Turning the hands over increases the difficulty quite a bit. You can also work with three or four balls in one hand. Some people walk with them. They can also be used as a massage tool, pressing the palms of the hands or the arches of the feet into them. There are all kinds of way to use these and there are people who have mastered some very difficult feats with them.

Note: Creating space for change. Although the traditional use of the balls is both enjoyable and beneficial there is another dimension to be aware of. In the normal course of events we move/change things by force or pressure (even if subtle). An area in which we most often do this is in relationships (personal and professional). However there is another way in which, rather than making things happen you create the space for things to happen. The balls can be rotated using your fingers and palm to create a space for the balls to fall into. Relationships can change by creating the space for change.

Item Special Note

Winning Bidder can pick up this item at the SCC Foundation Office, December 1-15th