Flow or Stillness

Comparisons between the energy based meditations of Qi Gong and the concentrative or stillness based traditions of meditation.

This Sunday (6th May) I am going to be doing a workshop on Qi Gong meditation for healing and health, and so I thought it might be a nice idea to have a look at the way in which Qi Gong meditation differs from other forms of meditation. Put in very simple terms it could be stated like this:
Whilst many traditions of meditation such as the Zen tradition and the Insight or Vipassana focuses on stilling and focusing the mind to create insight and inner peace, Qi Gong focuses on the circulation of energy or Qi within the body, in order to promote balance and harmony (for an example of Qi Gong meditation, see my articles on the microcosmic orbit meditation HERE).
So, which one is better? I personally enjoy practising them both* as they complement each other very nicely, and both move us in the same direction in the long term. For example if you practise Qi Gong meditations on circulating energy within the body, then this will make your mind and body feel very balanced and harmonious, which will make it easy to move into a state of stillness and inner peace. Conversely, when you practice stilling the mind, this has a very beneficial effect upon the flow of Qi through the body, and so an experience of bodily balance is induced through meditation on stillness.

Another reason that I practise both is because, although they take us in the same direction in the long term, the two different forms of meditation help us to develop different “skill sets” along the way. To give simple examples of this; Stillness meditation forms help to calm the monkey mind and give us insight into the dynamic of our psychological being, whereas Qi Gong energy meditation shows us how to quickly and effectively clear negative or blocked Qi within our body that is created by negative emotions or other imbalances.

So, my advice here would be to learn simple versions of both types of meditation, and by working with them together in tandem in a way that feels right for you, you can learn the specific skills that each type of meditation has to offer.

(*for examples of stillness meditations see my articles on the meditation blog on Zen meditation HERE, and Insight meditation HERE)

© Toby Ouvry 2010, please do not reproduce without permission.

Qi gong standing exercises 1: Light body standing form/Earth light standing form

Over the next few weeks I want to try and outline a few basic static Qi Gong standing postures. Although physically they involve standing still, energetically they catalyse a greatly increased movement and volume of Qi through the body. Thus, when you do them you will be outwardly still, but inwardly you will definitely feel various currents of energy flowing through your body. For me Qi gong standing postures are kind of like having a daily internal shower. In the same way that we stand under a physical shower each day to wash and cleanse our bodies with water, we can stand still for a few minutes in one of these postures and feel energy flowing though our body, washing and cleansing it energetically!
The main point with the standing Qi Gong forms is that you can achieve a much greater and more powerful flow of Qi through your body (flowing from the earth below to the sky and stars above, and vice versa) than you can when you are sitting down. So, when you are standing, you are not able to get quite the same amount of focus and concentration that you can when you sit, but in its place you get an increase in the power and force of the energy flow through your body.
The starting position for all the standing exercises that I will be explaining can be found in my article “Basic Qi Gong standing for beginners” , so please refer to this article for the structural basics of your posture.

Basic light body standing form
So, this first standing form is as follows.
- First read through my article immediately preceding this one; “Building and strengthening your light body by connecting to Planetary Qi”.
- Adopt the basic Qi gong standing posture. Stand there for a minute or two. You may feel the energies starting to flow quite quickly just from this standing posture itself. In more traditional times a qi gong adept would have been instructed to practise just this one posture by his Master for quite some time before moving onto anything more complex
- Now mentally sense below you the vast reservoir of living earth light / earth qi lying within the body of the planet beneath your feet. As you become aware of it feel two streams of earth light starting to rise up into your body through the soles of your feet.
- When you feel ready, place your hands down by the sides of your thighs. Raise your hands (just the hands, not the whole arm) so that your palms are at 90 degrees to the floor. Feel as if your palms are like magnets, substantially increasing the flow of earth light into your body through the soles of the feet. Stay in this posture for a few minutes, observing how it causes energy to flow up from the earth into your body in an increased manner. Feel your energy body filling with light and qi from the Earth.
- To conclude, place your hands back down by your sides and just spend a minute or so standing and relaxing, allowing the flow of energy through your body to gradually settle and return to normal.

Tip: Don’t try too hard, the structure of the posture itself does a lot of the work for you. So no need to try and mentally force things in your visualization, relax and you’ll start to feel the energy quite naturally after a while!

Click HERE to read the next in Toby's series on qi gong standing postures.

© Toby Ouvry 2010, please do not reproduce without permission.

Building and strengthening your Qi/Light Body by connecting to Planetary Qi.

This is a basic, simple and powerful meditation form that is really bread and butter for my own qi gong and meditation practice. It can be done as a meditation in its own right, as a preparation for Qi Gong movement work, before going for a walk, or as a part of more detailed meditations and practices (for example see recent magical walking meditation article on my meditation blog). Once you are familiar with it you will find it quite easy to sustain just in your daily awareness, as you are going about your tasks. Apart from the basic health and energy benefits of this exercise, which are substantial, it also helps us to develop or re-develop (as it is something many of us have lost) conscious awareness of our natural relationship to the Planetary Being or Earth of which our own body and energy is a part. Doing this exercise helps us to connect deeply to the Earth, and to feel at home wherever we are or whatever we are doing, because we feel her energy and warmth in a very direct and experiential way.

Basic Light/Qi body exercise.

Sitting down on a chair, or standing in the Qi Gong standing posture, take a few moments just to relax yourself, calm your mind and centre your attention. After you have done this, send your awareness down into the land beneath your feet. Sense and feel deep within the body of the planet there is a great lake of earth light, huge and vast. As you focus upon it, feel two streams of light and energy rising up from the Earth from the lake and connecting to the soles of your feet. Feel the earth-light rising up your feet and legs, hips and belly, chest and shoulders, arms and hands, neck and face until your whole body is filled with light and qi from the Earth. You feel that in addition to having a physical body, you have a body made of light and energy which interpenetrates and inhabits the same space as your physical body. If you like you can enhance the flow of this energy up from the earth using the breathing; As you breathe in, feel light flowing up through the soles of your feet. As you breathe out, feel the light and energy from the earth expanding through your body, becoming brighter and stronger. Stay with this experience for as long as you wish.

Text content © Toby Ouvry 2010, please do not reproduce without permission

Belly, or lower dan tien meditation for finding your centre and reducing conceptual thought.

This Qi Gong meditation form is one that you sometimes see variations of in Buddhist and Zen meditation practices. It involves the centring of our attention in our lower belly area, or lower dan tien (for a general outline of the 3 dan tiens in Qi Gong practice, please go HERE). This meditation form is particularly useful as a way of “ducking under” excessive mental or emotional turbulence in our mind, as, physiologically speaking the energy centres that hold our conceptual energy are above the solar plexus, in the heart and head. Fifteen minutes or so if this meditation a day is a really good practise for calming and centring yourself in a way that feels very grounded, solid and stable, one might almost say it is a very “physicalizing” meditation!

Stage 1:

Sitting with a comfortably straight back either cross legged or on a chair, or standing in the basic Qi Gong standing posture, visualize a line of light and energy coming down from the sky and going through the dead centre of your crown, brain, neck, chest and abdomen, then exiting through the perineum (point between the middle of the legs) and continuing down all the way into the heart-centre of the earth. Spend a short while aligning your body around this central line of energy, which we will now be calling the core of your body (see article on core body breathing). If you like you can gently rock your body a few millimetres from side to side in order to find the central point of right -left balance around your core , and then rock a few millimetres forward and back so that the front and back of your body can find their point of balance around your core. Then spend a minute or two just gently breathing in and out of your core; as you inhale, energy and Qi flows into the core of your body, as you exhale, feel Qi and energy flowing out of your core toward the skin/surface of your body.

Stage 2, locating the lower dan tien in the belly:

Now mentally follow the core line of your body down from the head and heart centres to the lower belly area, about 3 fingers width beneath the belly button (or a few inches above the hips). Visualize a luminous point of light and energy at this level of your body’s core, about the size of a golf ball. This is your lower dan tien (different from sacral chakra, see my article on difference between chakras and dan tiens.)

Stage 3, relaxing and focusing awareness in the belly:

Having found the location of the lower dan tien, the rest of the meditation is spent simply relaxing and trying to gently focus your attention and awareness in this part of your body, and letting go of excess conceptual thought and activity. If you like you can feel light and energy flowing into the belly area as you breathe in, and flowing out to the surface of your body when you breathe out. However, when you feel as if your mind and body have settled down, the main emphasis should simply to enjoy the state of non-conceptuality and relaxation that arise from focusing your awareness in the lower belly / lower dan tien in this way, and allow your mind and body to find regeneration and healing within this deep, calm space.

All text © Toby Ouvry 2010 please do not reproduce without permission.

Qi Gong “calf and thigh walking form” for more shapely legs

I have given this Qi Gong walking form a slightly humorous title, but as you will see it will indeed give you more shapely legs, and have other benefits besides!

This walking form places emphasis purely upon the mechanical dynamics of walking, and is based around the observation that, if you walk with the weight of your body more towards the front of your feet you will be exercising the muscles in your calves, whereas if you tend to walk with your weight more towards your heals, then you will be exercising and developing the shape and lines of your thighs. So, this walking form sees us consciously using the whole of the sole of each foot with each step, thereby giving a workout to both our thighs and calves equally.

The benefits of this are not just aesthetic, from a Qi Gong point of view it is important to keep the legs well exercised and healthy, as they form the foundation of our bodies strength and stability. Also, they (along with the feet) are the parts of our body farthest away from our heart and so regular, well rounded movement and exercise of all the leg muscles helps the heart to circulate blood to the legs effectively. So, this walking form we can say helps us to develop well rounded leg strength, helps our circulation and as a bonus can make our legs look nicer aesthetically! The other good thing about this form is that you can just integrate it into your daily walking around; it is just a matter of adjusting your walking style consciously to incorporate it.

Qi Gong calf and thigh walking

As you step forward with your left foot consciously make sure that your foot lands with the weight upon the heel. By the time you get to your midstep, the whole of your left sole should be squarely on the ground. As you get toward the end of your stride, consciously shift the weight of your body onto the front pads and toes of your left foot, so that you can feel the calf muscle flexing gently as the left foot lifts off the floor.

As your left foot has been lifting, your right foot will have been striding forward. So, as it does so you just need to do the same thing as you did with your left foot: Before it hits that ground, raise the toes and front pads of your right foot slightly, so that it lands with the weight of your body on the heel. By the time you get to your midstep, the whole of your right sole should be squarely on the ground. As you get toward the end of your stride, consciously shift the weight of your body onto the front pads and toes of your right foot, so that you can feel the calf muscle flexing gently as the right foot lifts off the floor.

So, that is the basic technique, it is just a matter of then repeating this pattern so that each time one foot strides forward the body weight lands toward the heel (exercising the thighs) and then as you lift off at the end of your step, the front pads and toes push off, thus exercising the calves. As I mentioned, it can be done as you are walking around doing your daily tasks, but it can also be slowed down a little and done as a contemplative walking form in a quiet space, taking the technique as the point of focus for developing a relaxed and meditative state of mind.

©Toby Ouvry 2010, please do not reproduce without permission.

Microcosmic orbit meditation level 2: Connecting the microcosm with the macrocosm.

This is the second in a series of articles on the meditation on the microcosmic orbit that provides the basis of so much of meditation practice in Qi Gong. If you are coming to this article without having read the previous article on Toby's creativeqigong blog, then you can find the “Introduction the the microcosmic orbit meditation” HERE. This will give you the background knowledge that you need to follow the below meditation technique easily and successfully.

The second level of the microcosmic orbit meditation that I am going to explain involves connecting the central energy circuit of our body, the microcosmic orbit, with the energy of the Macrocosm, or the energy and qi that flows between the Earth beneath us and the sky and stars in the heavens above us. The method dramatically increases the flow of energy and qi through our own body, as well as helping to encourage the flow of Qi in our immediate environment. For long term practitioners of Qi Gong and the microcosmic orbit meditation, the power and energy flow that we generate from our meditations will start to have a genuine, positive and regenerative effect upon our environment and the land around where we live. Initially most people come to Qi Gong as a way of working on and improving their own health, but in the longer term we realize that the most meaning from our practice comes when we are able to start to give back healing energy and life to the Earth and land her/itself.

Microcosmic orbit meditation level 2:
Begin by sitting comfortably in your meditation standing or sitting posture. Over the course of five minutes or so follow the stages of the microcosmic orbit meditation level 1, up to and including visualizing the microcosmic orbit in your body, and feeling the flow of energy circulating up the back of the body and down the front.

Connecting to Earth Qi:
Now become aware of the Earth beneath you, send your energy down into the Planetary Being, all the way to the core/center. Imagine that within the body of the Earth there is a huge lake of Qi, its surface a few meters below the ground under your feet. It is made of beautiful golden liquid light. Imagine that your feet are like magnets, gradually they start to magnetize the liquid light up from the Earth. The Earth light is drawn up in two streams to the sole of each foot. The Earth light then rises up the BACK of the legs from the heels, connecting to your microcosmic orbit in the perineum and the base of the spine. From there it circulates up the back of the spine, neck and head to the crown, and down the front of the body, following the course of the microcosmic orbit.
When the light reaches the sexual organs and the perineum, some of the light flows down the FRONT of the legs and feet, then out from the front pads of our soles and toes, back down into the Lake of golden Earth Qi below. Spend a few minutes circulating the golden Earth Qi through your microcosmic orbit and legs for a while.

Connecting to Universal/Stellar Qi:
Now become aware of the sky and stars above and around you. Imagine that there is a vast ocean of Universal Qi above your head in the sky, extending across the Universe. The quality of this Qi is different from the Earth Qi. It is lighter and more expansive, and seems to have the nature of white star-light. Feel it above your head for a while.
Now imagine that you have an energy center at the topmost point of your microcosmic orbit, at the crown of your head. It is made of light and about the size of a golf ball. This energy center in your crown now starts to magnetize the Universal Qi down from the sky. The magnetic pull from your crown attracts a stream of energy down from the Universal Qi above into the energy center at the crown of your head. As the white star-Qi enters the crown of your head it immediately enters the microcosmic orbit and flows down the front of the body. At the perineum some of it flows down the front of your legs into the Earth, whilst some of it stays in the microcosmic orbit, flowing back up the spine toward the crown of the head.

You now have a complete circuit of energy running from the Earth beneath you, up your legs into the microcosmic orbit to the crown of your head, which then connects to Universal Qi above you. The main part of your meditation should be simply to hold this visualization, and allow your body to mediate the energies up Earth and Heaven up and down its length, and in particular around your microcosmic orbit. If you like you can gently use the techniques for enhancing the energy found in the level 1 microcosmic orbit meditation, but you will also find that with repeated practice the movement of energy will have its own natural momentum, sometimes flowing slowly and gently, at other times with greater force and energy.

Concluding the meditation:
As with level 1, I recommend that you finish the meditation with just a few minutes of silence and pure relaxation, just to allow the energies in your body and in the microcosmic orbit to settle down and find their natural point of balance.

The true meaning of being human.
So, I have now explained the second level of the microcosmic orbit meditation. Just as a final chaser I thought it worth adding that in many of the primal, nature-based traditions of spirituality, the Chinese versions of which underlie Qi Gong practice, the true meaning of being human is articulated as being a mediating force between the energies of Heaven or the Universe above, and the Earth below. Our human consciousness and vertical physical posture, rightly used facilitates a communication and communion between the Earth and Heaven, catalyzing the evolution of them both. This second level of the microcosmic orbit meditation enables us to connect to the experience of being a human mediator between the energies of Heaven and Earth in a tangible way on a daily basis.

© Toby Ouvry 2010 please do not reproduce without permission.

Meditation on the microcosmic orbit.

I am going to be introducing the meditation on the microcosmic orbit into my Qi Gong class over the next month, and so with this in mind I thought I would write an article on it, perhaps extending it to a series of two or three over the next few weeks. This way for those unable to attend or who are not in Singapore, you can try the meditation in your own time, by yourself.

What is the microcosmic orbit?
The microcosmic orbit in Qi Gong refers to the energy circuit composed of the major yang channel and the major yin channel or energy meridian in the human body.
The major yang channel runs from the perineum (the central point between the middle of the legs) up toward the coxyx/base of the spine. From the coxyx it runs up the spine and enters the skull at the base of the neck, continuing up the back of the skull to the crown of the head.
The major yin channel of the body runs from the crown of the head down the middle of the front of the face to the palette, and then from the tongue down the front of the neck, chest and abdomen down into the sexual organs. Finally it runs from the sexual organs to the perineum.
So, the yang channel runs up the back of the body, and the yin channel runs down the front of the body, connecting with each other at the crown and the perineum to form a loop or circuit of energy. This is why it is called the “orbit'', it is the major circuit of energy found within the human body,

The benefits of meditating on the microcosmic orbit.
The microcosmic orbit meditation is the Taoist equivalent of the meditation on the kundalini or chakras that one finds in other eastern traditions such as Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism. Like kundalini meditation it raises the energies contained in the lower energy centers of the torso (pelvis, abdomen) and cause them to rise up into the higher energy centers in the heart, brain and crown. By doing so it helps to transform and refine the energies both of our physical body and consciousness, resulting in improved physical health, greater mental and emotional balance, and, for those that wish it, access to deeper levels of awareness and spiritual insight.

The main obvious difference between the microcosmic orbit and the other aforementioned kundalini/chakra techniques is that, whereas the chakras are visualized in a straight line, with the energy rising and falling up and down that one line, the microcosmic orbit involves the visualization of a loop, up the back of the body and down the front, as already described.

In my personal experience I have found that the microcosmic orbit meditation is easier to work with in the sense that energy can move up and down the back and front of the body simultaneously without a problem, whereas with a single line of chakras energy either has to be rising or falling, as there is only one channel for it to move up and down.

Once you get proficient at both chakra and microcosmic orbit work it is actually quite easy to combine them both into a single functioning meditation. However, another good thing about the microcosmic orbit meditation is that is can be practiced very effectively in a simple, non-complex way, with only a little basic technical knowledge. So, it is possible to practice the microcosmic orbit meditation both as a beginner, but then if you want to learn more details about the energy channels and the energy centers that lie along its path, there is much available to study and develop on the subject.

Ok, so the remainder of this article I want to dedicate to explaining the practical technique of how to begin meditating on the microcosmic orbit. I'm going to call it the “Level One Microcosmic Orbit Meditation'' with a view to posting a couple of more advanced techniques at a later date.

Level One Microcosmic Orbit Meditation.
This meditation can be done seated or in the basic Qi Gong standing posture , the former is slightly easier regarding developing deeper concentration, but the latter encourages the flow of Qi through the body more strongly. The main thing is that your pelvis should be aligned in such a way that your spine and torso can rise in a comfortable and erect manner, supporting the head and neck, which should be in line with the torso.
It is particularly important to have your tongue connected to the roof of your mouth, the tip placed just behind the top front teeth. This enables Qi to flow down from the pallet of the mouth down into the jaw and neck effectively.

After having found a comfortable posture, the next step is to sink your center of gravity down into the belly, so that the upper body is nice ad relaxed.

Turn your attention to the natural process of your breathing, give a little bit of time for your mind and body to settle. If you like you can practice a few minutes of simple Qi Gong meditation forms such as the core body breathing, or the inner smile.

The basic visualization:
When you feel ready, imagine there is a circuit of energy and light, about 3cms in width (like a hose pipe perhaps) running from the perineum up through the spine and back of the neck and head to the crown. From the crown it descends down the front of the face, neck, chest and abdomen to the sexual organs, completing the energy circuit at the perineum.

Feeling and seeing the flow of energy:
Spend a little while seeing and feeling this energy circuit, feeling its presence. After a while notice that energy is gently rising up the back of the body along the energy circuit, from the bottom of the spine to the crown of the head. You can also feel energy and light gently descending down the front of the channel, down your head, neck and torso, into your sexual organs and from there to the perineum.
Spend a little while gently seeing, feeling and sensing this energy flow up and down the microcosmic orbit. The energy may seem to be flowing in a continuous, gentle way, or it may ebb and flow somewhat. Don't try and control it too much, just allow it to move naturally.

Enhancing the flow of energy:
You can enhance the flow of energy and light along the microcosmic orbit by combining it with the breathing. For example as you breathe in you can focus on energy rising up the back of the body and spine to the crown, and then as you breathe out feel light and energy flowing down the front of the body into the abdomen and sexual organs. Alternatively it may feel more natural to reverse this; breathing energy down the front of your body as you breathe in, and breathing it up the back of the body as you breathe out. There is no right or wrong here, it is whatever you feel most comfortable with!

More techniques for enhancing the flow of energy:
There are two further techniques that you can try that encourage the flow of energy up the back of the body.
Firstly gently tensing the muscles in the perineum, pelvic floor and anal sphincter helps to stimulate energy to rise up the spine.
Secondly rolling the eyes up into the back of the head helps draw energy up the spine and neck into the head.
You can experiment with these techniques, see which ones feel best for you. They should be practiced sparingly during the course of the meditation, as and when you feel the need to encourage the flow of Qi around the microcosmic orbit.

Concluding the meditation:
I recommend that you finish the meditation with just a few minutes of silence and pure relaxation, just to allow the energies in your body and in the microcosmic orbit to settle down and find their natural point of balance.

Click HERE to view the second article in this series.

© Toby Ouvry 2010, please do not reproduce without permission.