Thank you for joining me on this introduction to the spiral universes of the navel.
I'm excited to share with you the techniques for working with the wind gates,
Which are points located just around the outside of the navel,
The belly button,
That energetically connect with the internal organs.
This practice comes from qi nei zang,
Which is a form of abdominal massage in traditional Chinese medicine.
The wind gates are located just outside of the navel,
Laid out in eight directions,
North-south,
East-west,
And north-east,
North-west,
South-east,
And south-west.
To learn more about the locations of the specific points and what each one represents,
You can refer to my talk called The Compass of the Navel.
Every point is connected to one or more internal organs,
One of the five elements,
Water,
Wood,
Fire,
Earth,
And metal,
As well as colors and emotions.
In this talk,
I'm going to guide you through a spiral massage as well as a breath pattern that can be used when engaging with the eight points surrounding the navel,
So that you can connect with the internal organs to clear trapped heat,
Stagnant energy,
And emotions,
And to nourish the body.
There is so much to discover around the belly.
It is truly a world of its own.
You may notice that each point around the navel feels different,
And this can really become a rich journey of building a relationship with the abdomen.
There is a lot of nuance there,
And also remember that emotion,
Stress,
And our past history are stored there,
So always be gentle and soft with the practice,
Listening to your body to determine if touch is the best medicine at any given time.
This practice can also be done energetically through visualization only if you're not quite ready for touch for any reason.
There's no one right way to do it.
The most important thing is to care for and honor where you're at at this particular moment in time.
This practice is easiest to do while lying down.
I often place the soles of my feet on the ground and bend my knees,
Which can be more comfortable for the low back and also makes the belly a little more loose and soft.
To get started,
Choose any point just outside of the button,
Such as the area just to the left a finger width or two away from the navel.
This,
I consider to be the east,
So explore here using the pads of different fingers to gently press on the point and see what approach requires the least amount of tension in the rest of your body.
If you find that you're straining your neck,
Shoulder,
Your arm,
Just relax a bit.
I like to place my index finger on the skin of the belly with the middle finger stacked on top of it so that I can create some added weight more easily.
Another option is to stack the pads of the middle fingers of both hands so that you can use the weight from both arms to gently press into the area.
Once you've found a comfortable position,
Gently press into the tissue as you exhale.
As you inhale,
Keep the pressure constant,
Meaning don't let up on the little bit of pressure you've created.
Your belly will expand around your fingers during the inhale while your fingers remain in place.
On the next exhale,
Press a little more deeply.
Again,
Not so much that you're straining anywhere,
So let your arms,
Shoulders,
Neck,
Your jaw all remain soft.
If you're furrowing your brow,
Let the skin there soften.
And then repeat this process a third time so that by the end of the third exhalation,
You're at a deeper point than during the first two breaths.
And finally,
As you inhale,
Release all of the pressure.
How did that go?
You may find that the pressure doesn't go very deeply downwards,
Or that you can actually sink quite deeply into the abdomen and even feel the arterial pulse below.
This will be different for everyone,
And it'll vary depending on the area of your belly that you're working with.
Now,
We're going to add another layer to this.
Let's choose a different point,
Say to the or just to the right of the navel,
About a finger width away from the belly button.
Place the pad of your desired finger or fingers in this place.
And this time,
As you exhale,
Move the finger in a clockwise motion while leaving it in place.
It's like you're stirring a tiny,
Invisible pot.
When you inhale,
Keep your hand still,
Maintaining the same gentle pressure.
On the next exhalation,
Start again this circular clockwise motion of the finger as you press a little more deeply.
Pause the movement again on the inhale,
Maintaining that deeper level of pressure.
And on the third exhalation,
Press a little more deeply while activating the circular clockwise movement of the finger.
You'll find that even though the finger doesn't move from this spot,
The skin and tissue are pliable,
Allowing that circular motion to take place.
Now,
As you move into the fourth breath cycle,
A final inhalation,
You will spiral counterclockwise as you release all the pressure and lift your hand away from the belly.
This counterclockwise motion is like unscrewing the lid of a jar.
This entire sequence can be done with just one full breath cycle,
Or three or six.
Once you're familiar with each point and all of the qualities it represents,
The organs,
Emotions,
The color,
The element,
You'll find that six full breath cycles gives you plenty of time to visualize all of these aspects and have a fuller experience.
Once you've gone around the navel through all eight points or directions,
Finish the sequence by imagining that all of the energy released by the counterclockwise or unscrewing motion has pooled just above the navel,
Like water,
And use your hands to scoop up this chi and drop it outside of your energy field three times,
Allowing it to flow into the earth to be absorbed there.
Then shake out your hands and feet.
You can listen to my meditation tracks specifically Flowing with the Wind Gates to put this technique into practice.
If you have any questions about the process,
Please feel free to leave a comment and I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.
I truly hope these exercises bring some added peace,
Balance and energy to your daily life.
I wish you well.
May your days be filled with health and happiness.
