Exploring the Exhale

[Trunk]

A little while back, I was experimenting with the exhale some more. I had already done just very simple consciousness-in-the-lower-tan-tien plus slow exhale, which is just such a full practice in itself. So I started looking at, "What else can I do with this?", and came up with a few really simple variations.

 

One variation, the one that's really opening up new things for me, is to - at the bottom of a slow exhale (that is, when you've exhaled all you're gonna) - at that point just gently squeeze the muscles around your sacrum. Breathe, repeat. For me, this gave me a deeper experience of my sacrum than I'd ever had before. It started pulsing, and sexual vitality was drawn into it, and I've developed a much deeper connection between sexual vitality and sacrum as a result, (which then naturally leads to up the spine). Like this key, that I've heard mentioned a number of times before, has come alive in a way that I'd really not gotten before.

 

I know that Dr. Lin talks about this (flexing around the sacrum), but his batch of techniques are a little awkward for me. There's a lot going on: the sexual chi gong breathing, the anal breathing combined with the flexing around the sacrum. The idea and the technique were definately there but, for me, isolating the sacral flexing with just a very simple technique made it much more accessible for me.

 

So I've been appreciating the sacrum, how it is the base of the spine, and how it is opposite back of genitals. And I've got a new appreciation for the connection that needs to be established to get across from genitals to sacrum, as a critical first step to getting up the spine. "That first step 's a doosie!" And how profound that jing~sacrum connection can be.

 

I knew that Taoist Secrets of Love talks about the "sacral pump", and so I went and purchased a new copy (I'd thrown my old copy away long ago) in order to review. Thought, "hey, I oughta re-read this and get a fresh view on it". It definately talks about the sacral pump (and cranial pump) as a real key to getting jing into the spine. Spot-on recognition of that. However, the techniques to accomplish that miss the mark. Straightening the lower back does flex the spine, but it doesn't directly deal with the sacrum ... definately could indirectly pull energy through the sacrum, but that's not the same as activating the sacrum itself. Not by a long shot, given what I'm experiencing as actual deeper sacral activation. And clenching the buttocks misses the mark, too. As far as technique to actually effectively activate the sacrum, I don't see it in that book. (And if someone else does, please refer me to the page.)

 

So, of course updated several pages on my site. Its so helpful to have the web. I just searched for images of "sacrum" and had a ton of pictures to choose from, put 'em on my own page and bam! Compared with having to hire someone to draw the pics, and going through a laborious publishing process.. whew!

 

main revised pages:

Exploring the Exhale - basic technique (which has been there for a while), added several simple variations.

The Spine - revised with a sacrum section, and a small bit of other mods.

 

Compliments of Alchemical Taoism.com.

 

cheers,

Trunk

[Yoda]

Yet more great work!

 

That's why we pay you the big bucks!

 

I've been experimenting with the ayam mantra after the exhale is done and it seems to hit its target more deeply.

 

From what I understand, snipers shoot at the end of the exhale.

 

It's a much greater sense of stillness.

 

I'll check it out!

 

-Yoda

[GrandTrinity]

Bravo! The sacrum is a triangle bone. It has 8 holes of immortality!

[Trunk]

Did you guys see the "men, women" linked graphic in the essay? I think that one of the reasons that women stabalize their generative energy easier is that ovaries are closer to the spine (sacrum) than testicles are. And their kan & li (jing to heart) is naturally supported cause o' breasts.

[hagar]

Did you guys see the "men, women" linked graphic in the essay?  I think that one of the reasons that women stabalize their generative energy easier is that ovaries are closer to the spine (sacrum) than testicles are.  And their kan & li (jing to heart) is naturally supported cause o' breasts.

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Nice explanation. I really don't know too much about this, but I got an urge to comment, so here goes...

 

In general, the reason for the above is due to the blood/earth element reaches higher in the body. (Heart) This means a shorter distance between impulse and emotion, and not like men where there is a latent energy loss between the ming men, hui yin and sperm palace. In this way there takes alot of effort to make the quantum leap of moving the energy away from the lower, Jing based triad of points and up above the lower DT. The only way to make this happen is through awakening the tailbone and ming men.

 

On a higher level, females have an easier axcess to the vibrational cords of the cosmic energy, which makes them less vunerable to postnatal decay of their sexual essence if they cultivate. Men still have to work through the ming men to transform their essential water. The women can transform it from the shen down, much faster, due to their yin nature. (Only a little yang is enough to start the process making the portal open in the upper dan tian)

 

Do I make sense?

 

h

[Yoda]

Didn't see the graphics, but the drill is a good one and easy too.

[Trunk]

Nice explanation. I really don't know too much about this (women's greater sexual energy stability), but I got an urge to comment, so here goes...

Hey, I'm just barely figuring out my own sexual alchemy! , so the very little that I figure about women's is just that: very little.

 

In general, the reason for the above is due to the blood/earth element reaches higher in the body. (Heart) This means a shorter distance between impulse and emotion, and not like men where there is a latent energy loss between the ming men, hui yin and sperm palace. In this way there takes alot of effort to make the quantum leap of moving the energy away from the lower, Jing based triad of points and up above the lower DT. The only way to make this happen is through awakening the tailbone and ming men.

Agreed. And, btw, for me - this recent awakening of the sacrum (tailbone) has made a big difference. This is one of those turning-point break-throughs for me. Things are going right with very little effort.

 

On a higher level, females have an easier axcess to the vibrational cords of the cosmic energy, which makes them less vunerable to postnatal decay of their sexual essence if they cultivate. Men still have to work through the ming men to transform their essential water. The women can transform it from the shen down, much faster, due to their yin nature. (Only a little yang is enough to start the process making the portal open in the upper dan tian)

I don't know if women really have an easier time of it. Seems to me that men have some easier access of some of the circuitry re: the head, but have a really tough time connecting essence to that in an smooth integral stable way. For women, the essence thing isn't so much of a problem, but they get hung up in their emotional nature, perhaps not as easier access to the still place that men naturally have. Of course, I'm speaking in generalities, and individuals (of both genders) vary. And, I'm clearly in rough territory fathoming female alchemy. Maybe Lozen, TwoTrees, Lezlie, would contribute their insights??

 

Trunk

[Trunk]

Didn't see the graphics, but the drill is a good one and easy too.

Here's the graphic of male & female anatomy.

[hagar]

Hey, I'm just barely figuring out my own sexual alchemy! , so the very little that I figure about women's is just that: very little.

 

Yup, I agree. It's basically an enigma....

 

Agreed.  And, btw, for me - this recent awakening of the sacrum (tailbone) has made a big difference.  This is one of those turning-point break-throughs for me.  Things are going right with very little effort.

I don't know if women really have an easier time of it.  Seems to me that men have some easier access of some of the circuitry re: the head, but have a really tough time connecting essence to that in an smooth integral stable way.  For women, the essence thing isn't so much of a problem, but they get hung up in their emotional nature, perhaps not as easier access to the still place that men naturally have.  Of course, I'm speaking in generalities, and individuals (of both genders) vary.  And, I'm clearly in rough territory fathoming female alchemy.  Maybe Lozen, TwoTrees, Lezlie, would contribute their insights??

 

Trunk

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Interesting you should say that. I am investigating the connections of the sacrum with karmic, or emotional aspects. I find getting deeper into neidan speeds up the latent "dust" stuck in the sacrum from the past. Its almost like the problems are getting worse. The loosening you speak about is just darn painful for me. No resolve yet. But definately a pivotal point to work on.

 

In the theory of my neidan practice, the difference of men and women are only on a very low level. The alchemical process is basically the same. The woman needs to slay the red dragon, the man to cultivate the dantian and mingmen to surpass the leak of jing. But mainy, the alchemical process is that of return to the prenatal state. And in that respect, what happens to the body is similar in men and women.

 

I find women to be much more readily wired for meditation than men. They often achieve opening of the upper dantian much faster.

I met one woman at a weekend course here in Norway last weekend. She instantly started getting images of the different vibrational cords of the cosmic energy (manifest as sound), and had a vison of playing on them as strings in her neidan meditation.

 

It would have taken years for a man to manifest such Gong, but she is born with it.

 

h

[Trunk]

Interesting you should say that. I am investigating the connections of the sacrum with karmic, or emotional aspects. I find getting deeper into neidan speeds up the latent "dust" stuck in the sacrum from the past. Its almost like the problems are getting worse. The loosening you speak about is just darn painful for me. No resolve yet.

When I first tried the exhale-flex-sacrum technique, I got it pulsing readily enough, but also found that I had some weakness and stagnant qi. Grief, anger. But I could also feel that it made a real connection from front (genitals) to back (sacrum). I eased off, didn't push it, but worked with whatever ltt breathing seemed to feel ok, when it felt ok. The result is that I'm feeling the front & back integrally connected, with not much practice, and the little orbit occuring with a much deeper level of tissue than I've ever felt. My sexual vitality is more stable, and the process~configuration just "feels right". And some weak and emotional parts are still processing.

 

Thanks for dialoguing on this. Really interesting to hear how this progresses with others. Always nice to know whether "its just me", or if a pattern is common.

 

--- later ---

I find that the sacrum is a 'distribution point' that allows some other ltt areas that are stuck to flow and resolve. The grief and anger that I feel resolving in my ltt are not particularly around the sacrum, but are pockets of presure here & there. Activating (pulsing) the sacrum is allowing me to feel and resolve these old back-waters.

 

Also, I find that the jing is not going just up my spine from the sacrum: My legs are being supplied with more power.

[Trunk]

(This is becoming like a "sacrum blog".)

 

latent "dust" stuck in the sacrum from the past. .. just darn painful for me.

Definately I can relate. I find that sexual impulses, memories, from the past are peeling away. Like, someone I haven't thought about for 25 years has come up in my sexual memory. ??? And I feel some tenderness in my low back. And, since you mentioned it, there has been some rather intense pain (emotional and energetic) over the last few days or so. And at the same time I definately feel that the energy is configuring, flowing, "correctly" and is stabalizing. Purification process.

[Yoda]

So the sacrum bone is 'sacred' and the little holes are little immortality thingies but can anyone unpack that a bit for me?

 

The tip of the tail is good for sending and receiving energy--the holes for distribution then, like a radiator?

 

Relatedly, I came across this quote today: "Taking sexual energy upwards isn't sublimation of sexuality; taking it downward (i.e. lust) is sublimation of divinity." I thought to myself that sublimation and incorporation of divinity is what we are here for on this planet and that, in turn, is the sacrum's department. It's an arrow pointing down. It seems like its mission is to get energy down more than up.

 

Maybe those little holes are physical immortality holes--that they anchor us to the planet???

 

-Yoda

[GrandTrinity]

Yes I would agree. If you look at the nerves in the sacrum they lead down to the earth. The 8 holes correspond to the pa kua...Its a triangle bone. Its madly sacred!

 

I love to think about my sacrum! If you have one sacred bone in your body it must be the mofuckin sacrum!

 

Doing cranio sacral meditation really seems to connect to the core which holds us upright.

 

So while the sacrum points down, perhaps the atlas bone (the top most vertebre) which connects near the "blood-brain barrier" that is connecting to the cranium, ponts up?

[Trunk]

.. the connection between the sacrum and another point, like the jade pillow or third eye is essential to keep the pulse strong enough. .. The connection between the sacrum and mingmen is really essential to connect with the deep core of the ltt.

H,

 

Your comments, above, stayed with me. I'd agree on each point, and that they all need to be connected profoundly. However, its too much to put in a detailed way on my site, so I summarized it as:

"You'll find that, in time, this will profoundly deepen your experience of the whole orbit (little, micro, and macro)."

.. in the exploring the exhale essay.

It really refers back to those orbit topics, and all the points along the path there. Back to Chia's m.o. book, "Awaken Healing Energy..".

 

I also added a paragraph to the spine essay:

"While spine-curvature-adjustment-exercises (such as "straighten the lower back", and others) are important, they are not the same as activation of the sacrum. Once the sexual vitality ~ sacrum relationship has been activated, you'll find that exercises that shift the shape of the spine become much more effective."

 

T.

[el_tortugo]

the sacrum/pelvis have an interesting joint.

 

try sacral breathing as opposed to abdominal.

 

sacrum helps open ming men.

[Yoda]

To get into the AYP program, I have to adopt some sort of regular 2x day mco practice and I've been trying squeezing the perineum and/or tailbone on the inhale, exhale, between breaths etc. I'm still experimenting, but I was just able to get my tailbone to have contractions using Trunk's protocol. That was pretty cool. Also, squeezing on the bottom of the exhale is nice in that it cuts the hyperventilation that I often run into when exploring mco.

 

Here's a quote from Chia's Taoist Secrets of Love:

 

Taoists regard the sacrum as a pump which will help to hold the sexual energy coming from the scrotum and transform the energy at the same time it gives it a push upward. It's like a way station that refines the ching chi as it circulates in the body. p72

 

The tailbone looks like a radiator. Perhaps it radiates overload energy into the ltt?

 

The contractions I got were from squeezing pretty hard (tailbone only, not perineum) at the bottom of the exhale, and I've had success sitting, lying, and standing. With standing being the easiest.

 

Keeping Dr Lin's ideas in mind, that muscular tension draws chi towards it, the visualization I'm using is that the tailbone tension sets up a vaccuum and when I relax the tension and breathe in the chi gets easily sucked up to the third eye.

[Trunk]

The contractions I got were from squeezing pretty hard (tailbone only, not perineum) at the bottom of the exhale,

Interesting. I've done it gentle. Interesting to hear how things vary.

 

and I've had success sitting, lying, and standing.  With standing being the easiest.

I also find that standing is easiest.

 

I've found that this technique can be applied all the way up the spine. Above the sacrum, the bottom-of-exhale puts you most in touch with the vertebral bodies, so you end up squeezing around them. This can be applied, little bit by next little bit, starting at the bottom and working all the way up into the neck.

Edited November 22, 2005 by Trunk

[thelerner]

Another oldie post, I thought I'd bring to the present.

 

Michael

[Yoda]

This can be applied, little bit by next little bit, starting at the bottom and working all the way up into the neck.

 

 

Trunk,

 

Can you??! I'm definitely getting better, but I can't go much over the tailbone. If so, how long did it take to get good at it?

 

-Yoda

[Trunk]

little bit by next little bit, starting at the bottom and working all the way up into the neck.

Can you??! I'm definitely getting better, but I can't go much over the tailbone. If so, how long did it take to get good at it?

 

I can't say that I'm really 'good at it', .. but, yes, I could do the whole spine - and it didn't take me long, just a little experimentation, quickly, actually. The big barrier was finding out that it actually could be done, doing it is not that hard.

 

One tip (that I keep repeating, maybe cause its such a surprise to me) is that the stack o' vertebral bodies is pretty close to the middle of the torso. The sacrum is further back; its relatively flat. So, once you start squeezing up past the sacrum, the flex goes fairly close to the middle of the way back.

 

You might try at various places if the "little by next little, from bottom to top" is not working. Try at the solar plexus, or at the neck a bit above the sternum. Place your attn there, exhale and let that area contract a little with the exhale, and then just give a little flex in there at the bottom of the exhale. Likely that you'll get a-hold o' the vertebral bodies.