Four finger grooming strokes

Three types of strokes

With motion
	Scraping strokes
	Slicing strokes

Without motion
	Pressure strokes

 

Basic hand posture

Your hand is curved and your fingers are held close together, giving it a «scoop» look.

The four finger scoop

Line-up your fingertips so that the nails are flush and present the most continuity from one to the other.

Aligned fingers

Since most surfaces on your body are rounded, your nails will follow the contour of the area.

Uneven finger use

You normally want to put equal pressure on each finger but, because the skin is so uneven, some nails always seem to do more work.
Since your middle finger is longer, it sometimes takes the lead and blurs the distinction between single and four finger grooming.
It could also be called “two finger” or “three finger” grooming depending on the situation.

 

•Four finger scraping strokes

This is the most basic grooming technique.

Four finger scraping stroke

•Your tightly held fingers simply go back and forth over the skin's surface.

Don't confuse with scratching

Though this stroke resembles scratching, it is much slower and you apply much more pressure on your skin.

	Speed	Pressure
Scraping stroke	Slow	Medium
Casual scratching	Fast	Light

Different in and out strokes

Take note of the dissimilarity between in and the out portions of the scraping stroke.

In-stroke		Out-stroke

Grooming only occurs during the in-stroke, so you put much more pressure and attention during that phase.
Out-strokes are generally performed much faster than in-strokes. They don't matter.

Basic but effective

If you want to groom large areas, four finger scratching strokes are your only choice.
Your entire body's skin surface is too vast for a single nail to cover.
The combined width of your four nails is close to two inches if you're an adult.

Scraping power

There are three gaps, but they simply enhance the flexibility and effectiveness of the system.

A question of pressure

This stroke is mostly used for superficial grooming, but it can also be used for deep skin grooming.

•Superficial grooming usage

This is the ideal stroke to tackle the job of removing the top layer of your skin.
This gesture is so important and the task is so huge, that it should become a habit, something you do any time you can.

How to do it

Using four finger scraping strokes is almost a no-brainer.
Simply pass your nails back and forth on your skin, putting light to moderate pressure, all over your body.
Make sure that you go everywhere at least once.
Afterwards, you might notice a fine powder, consisting of groomed off epidermis cells, on your skin, some of it falling down.
The goal is to do this every day.

Grooming over folds and crossings

You put so little pressure using this stroke that you can't really feel the skin's details.
This is OK.

Just rake over

Simply grate the surface, as evenly as you can, without caring about what is beneath.

Where to use this stroke?

Everywhere you can, but many parts of your body cannot be reached with it.
The tool is simply too big to fit.
Forget the eye-nose-ear area.
It won't work on your fingers, toes and hard to reach places.
Use single finger scraping strokes instead.
  

•Deep skin grooming usage

The difference here is the extra pressure you apply on your skin.
As soon as you do that, several things happen:
•You have to slow down your movements tremendously.
•You start feeling the folds and crossings within your skin.
•Your nails stay stuck in deep pockets of skin.
•...

Finding the right pressure

The idea is not to let your nails get caught.
So reduce the pressure slightly.
You want to keep on scraping, but over a very small area.
Your nails should now travel less than a quarter inch on each side.
Don't stay at the same place for too long because your skin will not resist.

Scraping over the folds

You don't scrape lengthily before you meet some kind of line; a fold, a space between two muscles, the side of a bone, ...
•Change your hand position so that your four fingers fall into the fold.

Slowly groom in and out of a fold

•Press your nails in deeply into the groove.
•Move all four nails over the fold.

 

•Four finger slicing strokes

The four fingers aren't necessarily held together tightly for this stroke.
The fingertips remain in line, but there may be a distance between each one.
You use the side of your four nails to open up a fold as you go down its groove.

Four finger slicing stroke

•Place all four nails inside the furrow of a fold.
•Slide your hand down the fold.
Your fingers groom the target area in sequence: 5-4-3-2.
The little finger takes the lead and the others pursue in order.
Put enough pressure so they all reach the bottom of the fold.

Finger independence

Your strokes will benefit if you practice individual control over each finger’s action.
Some fingers press in deeply while others open the fold more.
Take note that your more agile and powerful fingers come last.

Use four finger slicing strokes
on any fold you encounter

Slicing strokes and folds go together conveniently.
It makes sense to slide your nails along any fold you detect.
Once your nails are in a groove, try following it for as long as you can.

 

•Four finger pressure strokes

This is the four finger version of the ubiquitous single finger pressure stroke.
•Put your four nails in line.
•Place them anywhere on your body.
•Apply lots of pressure on the skin.
•Maintain it for several seconds.

Four finger pressure stroke

•Move your hand a little and repeat.

More and more pressure

Instead of just using the strength of your fingers, you can use the force of your entire arm to pull the nails into the flesh.
In some places, you can even place your thumb on the other side of a limb, so you can grasp it.

Using a single finger is usually better

I have put this stroke last because it doesn't work so well on fold crossings.
Most problems on your body are due to small, precisely located and deep crossings.
Grooming with one finger and putting all your attention to this task makes sense.

Use this stroke for muscle pain

Four finger pressure strokes are very effective on folds entangled into muscles.
The region must be fleshy enough for your nails to sink into the muscles.
•Locate a painful area in your muscle.
•Drive your four nails into the pain.
•Keep the pressure on for a while.
•Move a bit and repeat while trying to find the most painful locations.