4. ASCENDING

  “The successive raising of the right and left arms vertically upwards, speaks of the Eternal Way of Life. It speaks about ascending and descending as two processes in Nature which alternate continuously. Suffering is the valley; joy – the mountain peak. Poverty is the valley; richness – the peak. These processes exist everywhere in Nature. When we walk, we lift one leg. This is ascending. Then when it comes down – this is descending.
  “While rising and descending, one should know that this is the way one needs to go, that this is the way of life. Because if one does not come down, one will not be able to go up again. This exercise makes it easy for one to understand the Eternal Way of Life and
to have the correct attitude towards it.” [1, p. 76]
 Description
 Music: Melody 4 (“First Day of Spring”) – 26 measures.
 Starting position
 The last position of the previous exercise is the starting position of “Ascending,” transitioning into it without interruption. The weight of the body is on the left foot.
  Movement sequence
  1st measure, 1st beat: step forwards with the right foot. On the 1st, 2nd and 3rd beats: the right arm is raised forwards and upwards, towards the vertical*, palm to the front. At the same time the left arm goes downwards and backwards with palm turned back so that both arms form a straight line (fi gure 4.1).

Fig 4.1	Fig 4.2

 2nd measure, 1st beat: step forwards with the left foot. On the 1st, 2nd and 3rd beats the left arm is extended forwards and upwards with palm to the front. At the same time the right arm moves downwards and backwards just as the left hand in the 1st measure (figure 4.2).
 Note: Both hands circumscribe ascending and descending semi-circles. The body is stretched forwards and the weight of the body is on the front foot while that behind is on its toes.
 These movements are repeated until the end of the melody. On the last bar, step with the left foot, the right arm moves downwards but this time the left remains down, i.e. both arms are down to the sides as a starting position for the next exercise.