The second way is to raise the legs and put a pillow folded in half underneath them for support. I usually do it the first way simply because I don’t like to hassle with a pillow in the middle of a massage.
The second way, however, does have the slight advantage that your friend doesn’t have to siphon off even a fraction of his energy in order to keep his legs in place. Now stand at your friend’s right side and begin massaging slow full circles on the stomach using the palm of your left hand. Move clockwise – most important on the stomach, as the colon is coiled clockwise. With each circle pass first just below the ribs, then a little on to the left side of the torso at the waist, then just above the pelvic bone, and then a little on to the right side of the torso at the waist.
After one complete circle you can add the right hand. Keep the left hand moving steadily in the same fashion; after it has passed from the lower to the upper half of the stomach, however, add the right hand for about a half of a circle running from hip to hip alongside the pelvic bone. As soon as the right hand has reached the right hip, remove it and position it in the air near the left hip so that it can repeat the same crescent movement after the left hand has made another round. Work out the timing so that whenever the right hand is actually massaging, it is at a point on the circle directly opposite to the left hand.
Do a half dozen continuous circles with your left hand, adding a partial circle with the right each time.
8. Awkward as this one may seem at first, in the long run it will be a lot easier for you to do than for me to describe. Place the back of your right hand – that’s right, the back of the hand – flat against the centre of your friend’s stomach. Have your wrist bent at a ninety-degree angle; your fingertips should be pointing towards you and your forearm should stick straight into the air with the elbow pointing away from you.
Now start rotating your hand clockwise. After you have completed about a quarter of a circle start gradually turning your hand over on to its palm at the same time; this will also necessarily bring your elbow closer to the level of the table. Keep on rotating and keep on turning, however; so that by the time the circle has been completed, your hand has again been turned on to its back and your elbow raised to a position directly above your hand.
Make half a dozen circles. The feel of this stroke should be flowing and steady and slow. Don’t wander about the stomach; keep it right at the centre. If your friend’s knees have been raised you may gently return his/her legs to the table.
9. Now knead the sides of the torso in the vicinity of the waistline. Kneading is not difficult. Reach across to the side opposite you. With each massage stroke of your hands gently squeeze the loose flesh at the waistline between your thumb and fingers; grasp as much as you can comfortably hold on to and then let it slowly slip from between your fingers.