THREE DANTIANS AND CENTRAL CHANNEL
SEATED MEDITATION #6: THREE DANTIANS AND CENTRAL CHANNEL
This practice opens the heart of the core energy system:
the Central Channel which runs through the core of the body from head to perineum
and the Three Primary Energy Centers (Lower, Middle, and Upper Dantians).
This meditation:
1) Integrates body, emotion, mind, and spirit
2) Aligns the spine
3) Creates a strong sense of well-being through the body
Follow the instructions below the illustrations to get started.
CENTRAL CHANNEL (CHONG MAI "jong mai"):
Arrows: spiritual connection through the body.
SANG DANTIAN ("shahng dahn-tee-en"):
Head: associated with mental faculties.
CHONG DANTIAN ("jong dahn-tee-en"):
Chest: associated with emotional health.
XIA DANTIAN ("shah dahn-tee-en")
Lower Abdomen: associated with physical vitality.
Follow these four cues to practice THREE DANTIANS AND CENTRAL CHANNEL:
1) RELAX AND ALIGN POSTURE (Same as Seated Meditation #1):
-Arrange your environment to be quiet, comfortable, and free from distraction.
-Sit forward on the front edge of a chair or bed.
-Feel your feet firmly on the ground, with your weight evenly spread across the surface of both feet.
-Rest your hands, palms down on your thighs. Relax and soften your hands.
-Let your elbows feel heavy, so your shoulders relax and sink down.
-Imagine a string attached to the top of your head pulling you gently upright. Feel as if your body is filled with helium. This opens and expand the space in all joints.
-Roll the tip of your tongue to lightly touch the roof of your mouth.
2) SMILE AND BREATHE CONSCIOUSLY (Same as Seated Meditation #1):
-Adjust your emotional attitude with a subtle smile. Let the feeling of smiling relax your face, eyes, and forehead. Smile down through your whole body, letting your whole body soften and relax.
-Focus into your lower abdomen and become aware of your breathing there. As you inhale feel as if your lower abdomen and lower back fill with your breath. Exhale and allow your abdomen to relax back toward your spine. Let your breathing become slow, quiet, and soft.
3) VISUALIZE THE QI PATHWAY: (See illustration above)
-Imagine spheres of energy in your lower abdomen, in the center of your chest, and in the center of your brain. Imagine a central channel running from the top of your head down through the core of your body, including your spine, to your perineum. The central channel runs through the three dantians.
4) IMAGINE AND FEEL UNIVERSAL QI FLOWING SMOOTHLY ALONG ITS PATH:
-Focus into the lower dantian, the sphere in the lower abdomen. Imagine and feel that your attention feeds this sphere so that it becomes warmer, brighter, and feels full of energy. Spend 1-2 minutes with the lower dantian.
-Allow some energy to flow upward from the lower dantian through the central channel to the middle dantian, in the center of your chest. Feel the connection between the lower and middle dantians through the central channel. Then imagine and feel that your attention feeds the middle dantian, so that it becomes warmer, brighter, and feels full of energy. Spend 1-2 minutes focused in the middle dantian.
-Allow some energy to flow upward from the middle dantian through the central channel to the upper dantian, in the center of your brain. Feel the connection between the middle and upper dantians through the central channel. Then imagine and feel that your attention feeds the upper dantian, so that it becomes warmer, brighter, and feels full of energy. Spend 1-2 minutes focused in the upper dantian.
-Allow some energy to flow downward from the upper dantian through the central channel to the middle dantian. Feel the connection between the upper and middle dantians through the central channel. Spend 1-2 minutes focused in the middle dantian.
-Allow some energy to flow downward from the middle dantian through the central channel to the lower dantian. Feel the connection between the middle and lower dantians through the central channel. Spend 1-2 minutes focused in the lower dantian. Allow the energy to collect there.
-The entire practice should take at least 15 MINUTES. If you arrive back at the lower dantian before 15 minutes is up, then center your mind in the lower dantian for the remaining time. Whenever your mind wanders, gently bring it back to the last point of focus and continue from that point. Return to the path of the meditation as many times as your mind is distracted.
CONCLUSION:
-To finish this practice, feel your body as a whole from the inside. Allow a feeling of relaxation to fill every cell. Rest your mind in that feeling.
-At the end of your practice, stand up and do the following STRETCHES:
1. Reach both arms overhead. Interlace your fingers and turn your palms up. Inhale through your nose and press your palms as high as you can overhead. Exhale through your mouth and lean to one side, feeling the stretch on the opposite side of your body. Inhale and return to center. Exhale and lean to the other side. Repeat each side three times.
2. Bring your hands down in front of your chest, with fingers still interlaced, and palms facing you as if you are holding a large beach ball at chest level. Inhale through your nose. Exhale through your mouth and rotate as far as you can to one side, staying upright. Inhale and return to center. Exhale and turn to the opposite side. Inhale as you return to center. Repeat three times to each side.
3. Shake out your arms and legs. Shake your legs one at a time from the hip, letting your foot hang loosely. Shake your hands from your shoulders, letting your hands hang loosely.
4. Finish your practice by placing your hands on your lower abdomen and taking three deep breathes in through your nose and out completely through your mouth. Collect core energy in your lower dantian. Carry that energy into your day.