Subtle Energy 5 - Three Dantians & The Central Channel

This subtle energy practice integrates your body, heart, and mind through the core of your being for a deep sense of harmony and as a portal to experiencing your essential Being. The three dantians are your primary energy centers which are connected through the Central Channel which runs up through the center of your body. To fully experience this practice, it's best to have practiced three primary subtle energy meditations: Relaxing Down Three Lines, Inner Smiling, and Lower Dantian Breathing.

Transcript

The Three Dantians and the Central Channel The purpose of this meditation is to connect with and support vital energy flow through the three primary energy centers in your body and the central channel which connects them.

Tuning into these energies brings harmony to body,

Heart,

And mind and is a portal to greater awareness of who you are on the deepest level of being.

The three primary energy centers are called dantians,

The lower dantian in the lower abdomen,

The middle dantian in the center of your chest,

And the upper dantian in the center of your brain.

You can correlate the three dantians and the central channel with the vagus nerve network.

You have what's called the enteric nervous system,

Which is a brain-like neural network in your gut,

Responsible for digestion,

Immune function,

Producing neurotransmitters that communicate throughout the body,

And sending nerve signals up through the vagus nerve into the brain in your head.

And you have the cardiac nervous system,

Which is also a brain-like neural network that sends blood,

Chemical messages,

Nerve signals,

And pulse waves throughout your body,

As well as sending information up to the brain in your head through the vagus nerve.

The gut,

Heart,

And head brains work best when they're in good communication and coherence with each other.

This communication happens through your circulatory,

Lymphatic,

Nervous,

Digestive,

And connective tissue systems,

Which form an integrated communication network with all your organs,

Bones,

And tissues.

In the spiritual and energetic dimensions,

The central channel is like a river of light that connects you down into the earth and up into the heavens,

Connecting you with the infinite network of life.

In this seated meditation,

We're going to use cues that activate each of the three dantians and the energy flow of the central channel.

I think you'll find this integrating and enlivening for your body,

Heart,

And mind,

And that it gives you a felt sense of deep peace,

Spiritual connection,

And vitality.

Let's begin by taking a comfortable,

Upright,

Seated position.

Look down at your feet,

And make sure the inside edges of your feet are parallel with each other.

Rest your hands,

Palms cupped in your lap,

With the tips of your thumbs touching lightly.

Lightly close your eyes.

Take a moment to check in,

Inside.

Notice anything you might be carrying with you into this meditation.

Notice any thoughts,

Any feelings,

Any sensations in your body.

You don't need to fix or change any of this.

Just notice.

Be aware of whatever is present,

And be with it.

As we go through this practice,

Maintain this attitude of mindfulness by paying attention on purpose,

In the present moment,

Non-judgmentally,

Like a curious observer.

So you have a gentle,

Kind,

Compassionate relationship with whatever happens in the meditation,

And with yourself,

With all your thoughts,

Feelings,

And sensations.

Allowing everything to be as it is,

And being aware of it all.

Now,

Consider your intention for your practice.

Why is this important to you?

Consider that your practice is not only for you,

That the effect of your practice,

And your state of consciousness,

Extends to your loved ones,

To everyone you interact with,

And even more widely,

To all beings in the whole planet,

And throughout the collective consciousness.

Your state of consciousness matters.

You are an important part of the whole.

So consider dedicating your practice to the well-being and benefit of all beings.

So that all beings are included in your practice today.

Now,

Focus down into the soles of your feet.

Awaken sensory awareness in the soles of your feet,

And tune in to the sensations of contact of the soles of your feet on the ground.

Feel the solid support and grounding presence of the earth.

Feel that grounding presence flowing up through your feet,

Up through your shins and calves,

Up through your knees,

Your thighs,

Your hips,

And your pelvic bowl,

Resting down in your seat.

Feel the weight of your body resting down in your seat.

Feel your pelvic bowl resting down into the solid support underneath you.

Focus into your palms and fingers resting in your lap.

Awaken sensory awareness here in your hands.

Allow your hands to soften and relax as if they're melting down into your legs.

Feel the soft openness in your hands.

As your hands relax,

Allow your arms and shoulders to relax down.

Release any tension in your shoulders,

Neck,

And your head.

Feel soft,

Relaxed openness in your hands,

Arms,

Torso,

Shoulders,

And legs.

Allow your hands to soften and relax down.

Allow your hands to soften and relax down.

Allow your hands to soften and relax down.

Allow your hands to soften and relax down.

Allow your hands to soften and relax down.

Feel the tingling aliveness and openness shining brightly at the top of your head.

Now tuck your chin just slightly to gently lengthen the back of your neck.

Lightly close your lips and breathe in and out through your nose.

Rest the tip of your tongue up on the roof of your mouth and feel the luminous energy in the tip of your tongue flowing up through the center of your brain,

Up through the top of your head.

Soften and relax your tongue here.

When you soften your tongue,

It sends a relaxation signal through the vagus nerve network all the way down through your heart,

Your abdomen,

And your whole body.

As you feel this relaxation,

Smile,

A subtle smile of calm happiness,

Of appreciation and gratitude for this time to consciously relax.

Tune into these vital energy centers and pathways and connect with the one life we all share.

Allow this feeling of relaxed aliveness to soften your face.

Smile through your eyes and release any tension from your eyebrows and your forehead.

Allow this feeling of relaxed aliveness to flow down from the top of your head,

Down through the center of your brain,

Down through your neck,

Your heart,

Your lower abdomen,

And down through your perineum.

Feel this river of light flowing down through the core of your body,

Relaxing and energizing your whole body from the core outward.

Feel the relaxed aliveness in every cell.

Feel every cell smiling with calm happiness,

With vital energy.

Feel every cell lit up and smiling.

Now,

Focus into your lower abdomen,

Into a radiant sphere of energy here,

The lower dantian sphere.

Imagine and feel this sphere is breathing.

As you breathe in,

This sphere expands from the center outward in all directions,

Filling up.

And as you breathe out,

The sphere relaxes into the center and the energy concentrates in a pearl of energy right in the center of the sphere.

Breathing in,

The sphere expands from the center outwards in all directions and fills up.

Breathing out,

The energy relaxes into the center of the sphere,

Into a pearl of energy in the center.

Allow your attention to become completely absorbed in the sensations of this breathing sphere,

So everything else fades to the background and there's only this.

As you continue breathing into this lower dantian sphere,

Feel it glowing warmer,

Brighter.

More alive,

More present,

Full of energy.

You might see this light in your inner vision,

Feel the pressure waves of the breath,

Or feel a sense of presence and aliveness.

It's all good however it arises for you.

You don't need to try to make this happen.

Just notice whatever is present as you focus into the sensations of breathing in this lower dantian sphere.

Open to feeling the presence and aliveness here.

Now,

Take a deep in-breath and draw energy from the lower dantian up into the middle dantian in the center of your chest.

Exhale through the middle dantian.

Feel the connection between the lower and middle dantians through the central channel.

Again,

Breathe up through the central channel to feel that connection.

Then breathe out through the center of your chest to center your attention here.

Center your attention right in the center of your chest into a radiant sphere of energy here.

Here we're going to breathe in and out feelings of love,

Gratitude,

And positive emotion To help you connect with a feeling of love and gratitude you might call to mind someone or something you love and feel grateful for.

As you breathe in,

Feel as if your heart is filling with love and gratitude.

And as you breathe out,

Feel these positive feelings flowing out through your heart to all your cells.

Breathe in love and gratitude.

Really feel this and breathe out,

Sending this nurturing feeling from your heart from the middle dantian.

Through all the cells of your body.

As you continue to focus on breathing love and gratitude through your heart,

You might feel the space of your heart and around your heart becoming warmer,

More present,

More energized with positive feeling,

With gratitude for life,

With love for life,

Yourself,

Your loved ones,

And all beings.

We're all deeply connected through the love in our hearts.

Feel the love in your heart in the middle dantian.

Now,

On the next inhalation,

Draw energy from the middle dantian up through the central channel,

Up through your neck,

Right into the center of your brain.

Breathe out through the center of your brain to center your attention here.

Again,

Breathe in and draw energy from your heart up to the center of your brain,

And breathe out through the center of your brain to center your attention here.

Feel the connection between the middle and upper dantians through the central channel.

Now,

Center your attention right in the center of your brain,

Deep between your ears,

Directly under your crown.

Feel calm,

Peaceful energy here in the center of your brain.

Feel the stillness underneath all movement,

Right here in the center of your brain.

Listen to the silence underneath all sounds,

Here in the center of your brain.

Sense open,

Clear space here in the center of your brain.

Feel stillness.

Listen to silence.

Sense open,

Clear space here in the center of your brain.

Sense open,

Clear space.

Notice how your mind becomes calm and quiet in the stillness,

Silence,

And spaciousness.

Stillness,

Silence,

And spaciousness have no boundaries.

Feel how they are boundless.

Stillness,

Silence,

And spaciousness have no beginning and no end.

Rest in this vast,

Endless,

Still,

Silent.

Rest as still,

Silent.

You don't have to do anything here.

Simply rest as still,

Silent,

In clear space,

Dimensionless,

Still,

Silent,

Clear,

Spacious,

Here.

Now feel the connection of this space in the center of your brain with the center of your chest,

The heart center,

The middle dantian.

Feel this connection through the central channel.

Now allow attention to flow down from the upper dantian to the middle dantian.

Focus attention again in the middle dantian.

Feel the love shining from your heart.

Feel the warm openness of your heart.

Now allow attention to flow down through the central channel from your middle dantian to your lower dantian.

Feel the connection between the middle and the lower dantian.

Feel this connection through the central channel.

Now rest your attention in the lower dantian sphere.

Feel yourself breathing gently here in the lower dantian.

Feel the vital energy and presence here.

Now we're going to breathe up and down through the central channel.

So again,

Bring to awareness the channel of light from your perineum up through the core of your body,

Up through all three dantians to the top of your head.

Feel this line of light.

Now take your attention to your perineum and tailbone and feel the energy here.

As you inhale,

Feel the energy rising like a stream of light from the perineum and tailbone up through the central channel to the top of your head.

And as you breathe out,

Allow the energy to flow down like a luminous waterfall from the top of your head down through the central channel,

Returning to the perineum.

Continue to breathe in this way at whatever pace feels good to you.

Allow this flow to be easeful,

Natural.

There's no need to try to make this happen.

It's already happening.

You are just tuning into this flow through your breath,

Imagining and feeling the flow upward as you breathe in and the flow downward as you breathe out.

It can help if you tuck your chin just slightly as you breathe in,

Feeling the energy flowing upward.

You might also feel the breath in the back of your throat along its upward path.

Then really letting go,

Following the energy flowing downward as you breathe out,

Feeling the central channel as a river of light flowing up and flowing down.

At the end of the next exhalation,

Let go of the breath and open to a felt sense of being.

Simply being.

There's nothing you need to do to be.

Simply being.

Notice how there's no boundary to this felt sense of being.

Aware.

It's vast,

Boundless,

Clear,

And spacious.

This felt sense of being.

Simply being.

Resting from the activity of the mind.

Resting as awareness itself prior to the content of experience beyond space and time,

That within which all experiences arise.

Awareness itself rest as a felt sense of here.

Now feel the space of your body within this vast space of awareness.

This localized space of your body is a place where awareness itself has thoughts,

Feelings,

And experiences.

Feel your body as an open space of experience.

Feel the central channel connecting you to the earth below you,

Opening to the earth below.

Feel the energy flowing right up through the central channel,

Up through the three dantians,

Opening to the heavens above,

Through this vibrant channel of the one life we all share.

Feel the tingling aliveness at the top of your head,

Feel the soft openness in your hands,

Feel your feet firmly on the ground,

And notice how you feel.

If you could sum this up in a word,

Phrase,

Or an image,

What would this be?

Record this feeling together with your word,

Phrase,

Or image in every cell of your body,

This marvelous vehicle for your life experiences.

So you remember it,

Bring it with you into all your interactions,

And can return to it anytime.

Very slowly begin to open your eyes,

Taking in the feeling of this space all around you,

Together with the space inside as one space of presence,

Aliveness,

And awareness.

Really feeling your essential being,

Here.

What would it be like to move through life as this feeling of connected aliveness,

As this open,

Clear spaciousness of awareness?

Thank you for your practice.

Well done.