Now the exhale. Here the description is not easy to put in words. After the gasp inhale, your shoulders are shrugged about your ears. Now you start a series of throw-down jerk-up all on the same breath and starting each throw with an easy 'ah' sound. You can get three to five movements on the same breath. That is: throw, jerk, throw, jerk with inhale; or throw, jerk, throw, jerk, throw, jerk with inhale.

NOTE: THE 'AH' SOUND IS MADE ONLY ON THE THROW-DOWN. THE JERK-UP IS DONE WITHOUT A SOUND INSERTED INTO THE EXHALE.

1. during the exhale there are multiple 'ah' sounds

2. the shoulders are JERKED up and THROWN down

3. common errors during the shoulder movement

  a. shrug is slow or not vigorous

  b. throw is slow or not vigorous

  c. motion is throwing the arms instead of the shoulders

4. gasp the inhale along with a jerk up of the shoulders

5. now do a series of throw and jerk, on each throw add a soft 'ah' sound on the jerk

6. at the end of your breath, do another jerk with a gasp inhale

There are four errors often made in this exercise: (1) speed is too fast; (2) either the jerk or the throw is lost and it becomes a motion, even a fast motion, rather than a jerk or throw; (3) the sound changes from the easy 'ah' to a breath-stopping articulation or guttural with each throw; (4) only one throw is done with each breath such that each jerk is done with a new inhale.

In order to avoid these errors it may help if you practice each part of the exercise separately. Try just the exhale with multiple 'ah' sounds and work just at that until you get a steady exhale — no pauses, no stopping — at each 'ah' sound. Then ignore the breathing entirely and just concentrate on the jerk and throw. You can also break this up into two parts. Get the feel of just the jerk and then get the feel of just the throw. Finally put everything together as one exercise.

speed is too fast

The jerk-then-throw sequence is not a race and should not be done with rapidity. Just to provide some idea of the speed, let's say that each motion, after completion, is maintained for 2 seconds. This is not a rule; it is a conceptual guide. There is a tendency in people first doing this exercise to jump quickly from one position (e.g. jerk) to the other (throw) and back. There are three reasons why this is wrong: (1) it strongly increases the tendency to inhale with each jerk rather than a single inhale covering a series of motions; (2) it strongly increases the tendency to make the initial gasp inhale very shallow such that the speed is needed if three to five motions are to be completed in a single breath (the initial gasp can not be like a full breath, but it should not be so shallow that little air is brought in); (3) if the motions are done rapidly, both the jerk and the throw will quickly become just motions not real jerks and throws.

When this movement sequence is done too rapidly (moving from throw-to-jerk or jerk-to-throw), it is difficult if not perhaps impossible to get the proper vehemence into each motion.

One way to slow yourself down and get in the proper habit of this jerk and then throw exercise is: after the completion of each motion slowly say the word "pause" in your head and only allow the next movement after the 'pause' word is finished.

7. common errors due to too speedy execution

  a. it tends to cause each jerk to be done with an inhale

  b. it tend to make the gasp inhale too shallow

  c. it is nearly impossible to do a properly vigorous throw and jerk if the speed is too fast

either the jerk or the throw is lost

Because the jerk and the throw both require either focus on what you are doing or the body habit of doing it correctly; it is easy to slip from a true jerk and a true throw into just a quick shoulder movement, that is, the shoulder movement becomes only a rapid raising or lowering of the shoulders rather than a jerk or throw.

the sound changes

There is a strong tendency in this exercise to change the sound, usually from an 'ah' to an 'uh' or 'huh.' In other words, there is a tendency to change the sound from a relaxed sigh to a sound of effort or exertion.

There is also a strong tendency to stop the exhale to make the sound. A good way to practice this exercise, in working up to good practice habits, is to do it with no sound. Just get the exhale such that it is continuous during the three to five jerk and throw motions before you do another gasp inhale with the jerk. Once you have the continuous exhale well set as a habit, then you can add the sound. Perhaps you start with a single 'ah' during the first throw. Once you have that, then you can go to the full performance of the soft and non-guttural, non-articulated 'ah' sound with each throw.

7. common errors due to too speedy execution

  a. it tends to cause each jerk to be done with an inhale

  b. it tend to make the gasp inhale too shallow

  c. it is nearly impossible to do a properly vigorous throw and proper jerk if the speed is too fast

8. common errors of changing the sound

  a. the sound changes from a soft 'ah' to a strong 'uh' or the like

  b. the sound is articulated or guttural instead of merely being inserted into a continuous exhale breath

  c. a tendency to break up the exhale so that is it a series of short exhales instead of one continuous exhale

only one throw is done with each breath

The final common error is to do a mini-inhale with each jerk-up of the shoulders. There should be only one (gasp) inhale followed by continuous exhale for the full three to five motions before another inhale. The Reichian effect of inhaling with each jerk is very different from the effect of the single inhale followed by a prolonged slow exhale during a series of jerks and throws.

1. during the exhale there are multiple 'ah' sounds

2. the shoulders are JERKED up and THROWN down

3. common errors during the shoulder movement

  a. shrug is slow or not vigorous

  b. throw is slow or not vigorous

  c. motion is throwing the arms instead of the shoulders

4. gasp the inhale along with a jerk up of the shoulders

5. now do a series of throw and jerk, on each throw add a soft 'ah' sound on the jerk

6. at the end of your breath, do another jerk with a gasp inhale

7. common errors due to too speedy execution

  a. it tends to cause each jerk to be done with an inhale

  b. it tend to make the gasp inhale too shallow

  c. it is nearly impossible to do a properly vigorous throw and proper jerk if the speed is too fast

8. common errors of changing the sound

  a. the sound changes from a soft 'ah' to a strong 'uh' or the like

  b. the sound is articulated or guttural instead of merely being into a continuous exhale breath

  c. a tendency to break up the exhale so that is it a series of short exhales instead of one continuous exhale

9. common error of inhaling with each jerk instead of of one gasp inhale followed by a series of throw and jerk motions during the exhale

Way One — Tongue In

The first form of this exercise is done as described above. Here you are mainly concerned with getting the feel of all the elements: (1) the gasp inhale breath, (2) the jerk up, (3) the throw down, (4) the 'ah' sound with each throw but no sound on the jerk, (5) being able to do three to five sets of jerk/throw during the exhale of one breath.

Don't be in a rush to get to way two. It is a simple extension and thus it depends on being able to do the exercise correctly as in way one. Whether this exercise is done in way one or way two, it is a very good exercise. You can profitably do this one exercise for 30 minutes at a time, for a whole session or half a session.

Way Two — Tongue Out

This is the same as way one except that the tongue is out in the lick-the-chin position. If you have not yet mastered the lick the chin exercise, there is no reason to attempt this way two of the exercise which combines the shrug the shoulders and the lick the chin exercises. Remember to keep your mouth open.