Health is the ruition of Growing Your Energy

By Lisa O’Shea Published in New Health Digest, October 2003 issue

mentioned above, it will transform into facing your belly. Do not interlace The Three Jing to lengthen our lives. The fact your fingers, though. Feet flat on the Treasures of that this Jing is stored in the kidneys floor, knees at a 90 degree angle. Traditional becomes an important point when we Keep your back straight and relaxed. Chinese Medi- consider the breathing for this media- Shoulders should be relaxed and chin cine are known tion. in slightly. The arch in your lower as Jing, Qi, and The diaphragm is a muscle that back should be flattened slightly as Shen. You can moves to draw breath in and out of the well. The teeth are together without Lisa O’Shea think about each body. It attaches to the lower part of clenching the jaw. Touch the tip of of these as the rib cage in such a way that it is your tongue to the roof of your mouth aspects of how our energy manifests higher in the front and lower in the unless you have high blood pressure. in our bodies, as if our energy had back, just like the rib cage is. Toward If you have high blood pressure, place three faces. They are dependent on the back of the rib cage, the dia- the tip of your tongue behind your each other and an abundance of one phragm actually lies right above the bottom teeth inside your mouth. Put will transform into the other two. Jing, adrenal glands and kidneys. Every your mind on the Dantian which is stored in the kidneys, represents the time the diaphragm moves with the about 1 ½” below the belly button and deep stored energy that we inherit at breathing process, it massages the centered inside the body. Breathe conception from our parents and kidneys. Since the kidneys are the slowly and smoothly. Picture that the governs all our growth and develop- residence for Jing, abdominal breath- air goes all the way down to the ment as well as the aging process. ing actually increases our longevity. Dantian. As you inhale, the belly Qi, stored in the belly, is the vital I remember seeing evidence expands, as you exhale the belly energy that flows through our bodies, relating to the power of abdominal sinks back in naturally. Picture the motivating and enlivening all our breathing when I was a high school coals of a fire glowing brightly deep in activities. student. We connected a machine your belly. Imagine each breath you Shen, stored in the heart, repre- that measured brain waves (EEG) to take is blowing on these coals making sents our spiritual energy, the light several students. You could clearly them brighter and warmer. that shines out of our eyes, and see the shift in the brain waves from Continue this meditation for as inspires us to make a difference in our the frantic beta rhythm, associated long as is comfortable. You’ll know own lives and the lives of others. with stress, to a gentle alpha rhythm, that you are done if you feel like you The easiest of these Three associated with the relaxation re- need to get up and move around. Your Treasures to grow is Qi. Qi Gong sponse, when the students began mind will wander, but this is normal. literally means Qi cultivation. The abdominal breathing. Try not to be distracted by the best way to build Qi in the body is to When breathing abdominally, thoughts that arise. Just let them go. sit still and meditate. To build Qi, we each inhale and exhale should be The trick is not to create an entire meditate with our mind focused on the even and smooth. The abdomen conversation in your head. For belly. To be specific, the exact should move with the breath instead of example, when you remember you location is an inch and a half down the shoulders and chest. As you forgot to go to the grocery store, don’t from the belly button and centered inhale, the diaphragm should drop start planning what you’ll get for inside the body. This area is called down and the belly should expand. dinner, just tell yourself you’ll take the Dantian which means “elixir field” As you exhale, the diaphragm relaxes care of it in a few more minutes. or “energy field.” The word used for back up and the belly should relax Many people feel like they field here indicates an agricultural field back in naturally. Human beings are shouldn’t bother meditating because where crops are grown and cultivated. born to breathe this way and if you they never can find an hour to set When we meditate on the Dantian, we watch a baby breathe, you’ll see their aside. Instead, try finding a few are growing Qi like a farmer growing little bellies moving quite naturally moments between tasks at work and crops. without any effort. With regular home where you can tune into the When the Qi is strong, it will flow practice, abdominal breathing will Dantian and just breathe. A few forcefully throughout the body, clear- become your natural way of breathing minutes of Dantian meditation every ing out blockages and healing every all day long without any effort as well. day can make a huge difference in cell. Another important result of To do the Dantian meditation, sit with your health and wellness. building Qi in the Dantian is, as I your hands on your lap, palm down or