How to meditate & Strengthen Hands with Baoding balls

meditate-with-baoding-balls-andreia-philosophy — Singing Baoding Balls

Contents hide

Baoding Balls come from the Baoding region in China and were invented during the Ming Dynasty sometime between 1368 and 1644.

Baoding Balls were sold as iron-caste balls, marketed to warriors to become stronger. Since your hands are how you interact with the physical world, strong hands equals strength in all circumstances; how tight you can grip a sword, pull back a bow string, carry groceries, or hold hands.

Later in the Qing Dynasty between 1644 – 1912, chimes were added inside to the balls, transforming them into singing balls. The charms were added to help promote relaxation, as well as balance Qi, which is the body’s life energy. Baoding balls stimulate acupuncture points and meridians in the hand to accomplish this.

Regardless of if you consider yourself a modern warrior, or not, Baoding balls are great for everyone, all ages, all disciplines, to strengthen hands and use for meditation.

If you are an office worker or a blue-collar worker, you should use Baoding balls to preserve and strengthen your hands. You don’t have to let your hands cripple with arthritis and pain as you age.

Discipline is the cure to most ailments.

White collar – Baoding balls on the desk
Blue collar – Baoding balls in the work truck

You should place balls at home around places you sit.

If you’re watching TV or a movie, you can strengthen your hands at the same time. Identify “downtime” moments of rest where you can add something productive in, like rolling balls.

Do not think of your effort as time in per day, but compounded over a year.

20 minutes of Baoding ball work 3 times per week equates to 52 hours per year of hand therapy. It is crucial to understand the value of compounding outside of the concept of money.

benefits of Baoding balls

The Andreia Philosophy views man(including woMAN) as the triplicity of Body, Mind, Spirit(BMS); so we will view the benefits from this paradigm.

Body benefits:

Increases hand strength
Increases hand dexterity & agility
Increases joint flexibility
Pain relief from arthritis, tendonitis, and other dis-eases
Increases blood flow
Rehabilitation – hand surgery, arm injury, etc.

Mind benefits:

Mind empties thought and fills with chimes or clacking of solid balls
Stress reduction
Anxiety reduction(less monkey mind)
Enhances and trains focus and cognition
Nervous system engagement

Spirit benefits:

Baoding balls can be used for meditation as a meditation aid: Letting chimes replace your thoughts
Increases the Qi flow in the hands through pressure points and meridian engagement
Managing and sorting emotions. Emotional? Spin balls for 10 minutes to get out of your feelings.
Increases the connection of mind and body to the spirit

How to Meditate With Boading Balls

To Meditate with Baoding balls, sit in a comfortable place, somewhere low to the ground or above a soft surface, in case you drop the balls. You don’t have to worry about drops with solid Baoding balls. You may want chiming Baoding balls as they are made for meditation–use the variant that you prefer.

You don’t have to be seated in a comfortable place either. Just be cautious about dropping them if you have hollow core balls or chiming balls.

The chimes from singing Baoding balls can replace the thoughts in your mind. Let the pleasant chimes take the space of your thoughts.

You can meditate with Baoding balls with a timer, or you can lean into the art of meditation and do it by feel. If you do it by fear, continue meditating until your mind is clear, meaning you do not have thoughts–your mind is paying attention to your balls, or nothing.

“Nothing” in the mind is the default setting you must pursue in your morning primer and maintain throughout the day. This state can be described in a metaphor: A calm mind is like sand settled at the bottom of a glass. When you’re in a whirlwind of thought, the water is dirty. When you are calm, the sand is at the bottom of the glass, the water is clean, and your mind is clean.

It doesn’t matter how you do it as long as you do it.

You can dedicate time to meditating by planning to meditate at a specific time each day for a set amount of time. Or, you can keep Baoding balls nearby, and meditate whenever you feel the need to meditate. Keeping them on a desk or coffee table is good.

It’s good to meditate with Baoding balls when you get stuck on something. Many iconic writers would take long walks in order to clear their minds; Baoding balls can give a similar effect. So when you are in the midst of work and become stuck, or slowed down, use the Baoding balls for a few minutes to take a break without breaking focus.

Think about times you can use Baoding balls for non-meditation, hand health reasons too. Like if you’re working at a desk and you’re in a meeting where you are muted, you can roll the balls.

Singing Baoding balls

Go to your local asian store or supermarket and buy Baoding balls from them. It’s better to support a local store over a corporation, always.

Loyalty to the neighborhood comes before loyalty to the corporation.

Always.

Many Asian markets will have singing Baoding balls that come with a nice case like the one pictured. They shouldn’t cost much, under or around $20. Don’t get designer, fancy, or decorative Baoding balls; we want to get ones made to use.

Recommended Singing Baoding balls:

Chimeless Baoding balls

See if the local Asian store has them, but if not, here are a few online options that will work well. Chimeless boading balls still make noise, a pleasant clacking noise. Some practitioners will try to keep them silent while rolling them.

Recalling that boading balls were originally made for warriors, some varieties have heavier weights in order to make your hands stronger.

Recommended Chimeless Baoding balls:

Training a few times a week with Baoding balls will help keep your hands strong and your mind sharp. This is just another tool for the wanderer to passively pursue mastery while on the path.

Spin Baoding balls for body, mind, and spirit(BMS) health and strength.