Dantian ~ Your Home Within The Body

Accompanied by gentle Irish harp, we explore the place within the body known as the lower Dantian. Dantian means "field of elixir" and is the foundational energy field cultivated through Qigong and internal marital arts practice. We explore simple daily practices to help cultivate an awareness of your Dantian and ways to strengthen your Dantian Qi and find your Home within the body.

Transcript

When you close your eyes,

Do you feel a sense of home?

We all have a true home that we carry within us.

In the Taoist cultivation Qigong tradition,

We call this home within the body the Dan Tian.

Now,

Dan Tian means the field of elixir,

The field of medicine.

And though there are three main Dan Tian within our body,

I'm speaking primarily of what's called the lower Dan Tian,

The lower field of elixir.

And through our Qigong practice,

Through our meditation practice,

We develop a deep connection to this place within the body.

So where is this place?

It's not a physical point.

It's more a dynamic field.

So if you just think of the lower belly,

Approximately an inch and a half below your navel,

This will bring your mind into the Dan Tian.

You don't have to know the specific location.

Just thinking of the lower belly is good enough.

So Dan Tian,

Our home within the body,

A safe place for our spirit to dwell,

Sometimes called the secret cultivation cave of the spirit.

Dan Tian is the root of movement.

It's where all of our muscle groups communicate.

So in the internal martial arts,

Every movement is rooted in Dan Tian.

Each breath returns to Dan Tian.

So in this moment,

If you're not driving,

If you're somewhere safe,

I invite you to close your eyes and think about the space down in your lower belly.

Imagine you can see yourself seated within the room you're in,

In your Dan Tian.

Imagine all the sounds you hear,

My voice,

The birds singing outside all emanate from your Dan Tian.

We say that energy flows where our attention goes.

So when we just bring our mind down to the lower belly,

Our life energy begins to gather into this great ocean of chi.

So imagining yourself seated within your own Dan Tian,

Just notice taking a few breaths.

How does it feel to be in this home?

This home within the body,

This earth within the body.

My invitation to you is to develop a deep relationship with this place within you.

Spend time each day closing your eyes,

Entering Dan Tian,

Allowing all of the static electricity in the head sink down and root into the Dan Tian.

You can help this process by lifting your tongue to touch the top roof of the mouth,

Just behind the front teeth.

When you lift your tongue to touch the top roof,

It allows the static electricity,

Stagnation,

Excess thinking,

All to travel down into the home within the body,

Rooted in the oneness within the body.

We have a breathing practice that can help this as well.

Imagine you're sitting within the golden red sun,

Sunlight surrounding your body.

With your tongue lifted,

Take a deep breath through the nose and imagine the universal chi like sunlight entering all the pores of your skin.

You're merging with the chi,

Merging with the sunlight.

As you exhale,

All of the sunlight gathers down into your lower belly,

Into the Dan Tian,

Taking the best medicine in the world with every breath.

So whenever you're feeling scattered or anxious or disconnected,

Just take a moment to adjust your posture.

Relax your shoulders head upright.

Close your eyes and gaze down into your Dan Tian,

Into your home within the body.

Take a deep breath,

Breathing that sunlight into all the pores of your skin.

Breathe out,

Gathering the sunlight down into your Dan Tian.

Notice the feeling of returning,

Returning back to the home that is always within you that can never be taken from you.

Furthering this exploration,

Whenever you make a movement,

Place your mind in the Dan Tian first.

Allow the Dan Tian to be the root of that movement.

If you're lifting your arm,

Don't think of lifting from the shoulder that causes tension.

Think of the lower belly,

A little tuck in the lower belly,

Lift the arm from your Dan Tian.

Feel the difference.

100% more power,

100% more relaxation.

So every movement is expanding away from Dan Tian or drawing back in to Dan Tian.

The home within the body.

I'll give you just one more tool to help cultivate your Dan Tian today.

This tool is a sound.

It's a special mantra or sound from the Ermei Qigong tradition.

It's the word Heng,

H-E-N-G,

With the mouth and teeth closed.

So Heng is a very powerful way to open the Ren meridian that runs down the front of the body,

The hardest channel in the body to open.

So this sound will help to strengthen your Dan Tian Qi,

To draw your mind into the lower belly.

What we do,

Just like before,

We take a deep breath and imagine the Qi-like sunlight surrounding your body,

Entering all the pores of your skin,

Merging with the sunlight.

And this time we make the Heng breath,

Hng.

So remember it's the word Heng with the mouth and teeth closed,

Very relaxed.

If you place your hands on your lower belly,

Hng,

The Heng breath should push your hands away.

This is a powerful way to strengthen your root and your home within the body.

You can use this tool any time during the day,

Especially if you feel excess mental energy,

Worry,

Anxiety.

Take that deep breath in,

Breathe that sunlight in through your pores,

Gather into your Dan Tian.

Keep it simple,

Keep it connected to the living energy of the day and use these tools to explore your home within the body,

The secret cultivation cave of the spirit,

Dan Tian.

May these practices bring you great benefit in your life through their simplicity,

Through their accessibility,

But they only work if you practice.

So one more time,

Breathing the Qi-like sunlight through all the pores of your skin,

Condensing in the Dan Tian with the Hng breath,

Hng.

Feel that sense of solidity,

Stability of home down in your lower Dan Tian,

The home within the body.

When I'm in my home and you're in your home,

You can meet for a peaceful cup of tea.

Blessings friends.

Reviews

So helpful and grounding. Beautiful music too. Thank you!

Part talk, part meditation. Instructive and centering.

Lovely and simple, thank you

What a beautiful teaching and deep experience of the Dantiem. Thank you so much 🙏💫

Loved this! I’m a ChiWalking/ChiRunning Master Instructor and I’m always looking for new ways to connect with my Dantian. Thank you! 🙏🏻

I

Excellent, thankyou 🙏🏿🥀🐦
I really enjoy the practise of Yoga, Tai Chi and learning more thru' these teachings 👌🫖

I loved the simplicity.
I will return to this practice again to clear my mind and open my heart. Thank you 🙏

Loved this, thank you so much, will definitely use this again

Absolutely incredible. A new total favorite! Sharing....thank you. Namaste
🌺🙏🌺

Thank you for this meditaiton that helps us deepen our awareness of and connection to our home within our body.

Lovely lessons and practices to align and strengthen the energy within. 🙏

Very clear instructions and I enjoyed learning. I will use this. 🙏

Thank you 🙏

A beautiful practice. One to return to. Thank you.

Thank you so much for these practices — powerful feltsense of peace and strength

Love the pace, sound, guidance and simple tips to strengthen the house for my spirit.

Thank you for this gentle and sweet practice, reminding me to focus on the dantian. Music, pacing, voice and words were a gift this morning.

This was really sweet. Thank you so much for the gentle music, your warm voice, and the accessible practices. I’ve know about the dantien for years but never heard it referred to as the home within the body. Thank you for your teaching! I hope to sit in the same room as you some say. 🙏🏽🌞❤️

Thank you so much for this!