[Daniel Laberge (OP)]

Hi to all,
Here’s a short grooming guide for beginners

First grooming experience
-Slide your nail along the lines in the palm of your hand.
-Pass repeatedly over the same fold while putting pressure.
-Don't hurt yourself, but stay just below the pain threshold.

-Go slowly, try to open the fold.
-Take time to stop and explore the deepest crevasses, digging as you go.
-If a fold becomes irritated, groom another.

Feeling unpain
-As you go, appreciate the sensations coming from your skin.
-Notice that when your nail reaches the deepest pockets of the fold, a pleasurable feeling appears.
-That's unpain, that's your guide.

Fold crossings
-Visually inspect the fold you're working on.
-Observe where other folds intersect with it.
-These are fold crossings.
-Spot the biggest crossing you can find and put your nail into it.
-Slowly dig and open the cavern.
-You should feel lots of unpain, its source being in the deepest sections of the crossing.
-Follow the fold to the next crossing and groom it. Repeat.
-Generally, you should groom the crossings ten times longer than the rest of the fold.

Going blind
-Try following a fold with your nail without looking.
-As you go, feel each crossing you meet and the unpain you get from it.
-This is the normal way to groom: without looking.

Unfolding
-Actively work your nail at the bottom of the fold, doing the necessary moves to unfold it.
-You can stay several minutes at the same spot.

Workspace tension
-As you groom, try opening and closing your hand.
-Observe the difference on your grooming performance.
-When grooming elsewhere, you often have to use your second hand to stabilize the workspace or to act as a counter force to your grooming hand, squeezing the skin.

Grooming everywhere
-Your newly acquired skills can now be transposed anywhere on your body.
-However, your skin will tell you where to groom it through itching and pain.

Good grooming.
---
Daniel