Building the dan tien gently

[markern]

At a later time I want to start some active work on building my dan tien and I am wondering how to go about that. I do a lot of Iyengar yoga and that takes care of the whole body in a very good way except not doing enough for strengthening the muscles in the dan tien and teaching you to move from the dan tien. To compensate I do 15 min of pilates each morning and that seems to fill the physical gap sufficiently. Iyengar also has a lot of restorative poses that are superb for relaxing the whole lower area and removing any constrictions that might be there so what I feel is lacking is something to strengthen the dan tien energeticly.Storing the energy in the dan tien with the secret smile seems to help and 10 minutes of standing like a tree as well but I feel I need more. I learnt some of Mantak Chias Dan Tien Chi kung and how to perform it a lot gentler than he teaches (the packing technique seems like it can create some problems unless done very gently) and that seemed to do a lot energeticaly and physucly but I feel that I need somethigng more gentle in the begining. So can anyone recomend me something that takes not much more than 15 minutes to strengthen the dan tien energetically? It could be qigong or meditation or breathing or whatever. At some point I will probably start doing the male deer excersise but are there other massage techniques I should consider for the dan tien?

[dwai]

At a later time I want to start some active work on building my dan tien and I am wondering how to go about that. I do a lot of Iyengar yoga and that takes care of the whole body in a very good way except not doing enough for strengthening the muscles in the dan tien and teaching you to move from the dan tien. To compensate I do 15 min of pilates each morning and that seems to fill the physical gap sufficiently. Iyengar also has a lot of restorative poses that are superb for relaxing the whole lower area and removing any constrictions that might be there so what I feel is lacking is something to strengthen the dan tien energeticly.Storing the energy in the dan tien with the secret smile seems to help and 10 minutes of standing like a tree as well but I feel I need more. I learnt some of Mantak Chias Dan Tien Chi kung and how to perform it a lot gentler than he teaches (the packing technique seems like it can create some problems unless done very gently) and that seemed to do a lot energeticaly and physucly but I feel that I need somethigng more gentle in the begining. So can anyone recomend me something that takes not much more than 15 minutes to strengthen the dan tien energetically? It could be qigong or meditation or breathing or whatever. At some point I will probably start doing the male deer excersise but are there other massage techniques I should consider for the dan tien?

 

hi, imho only cultivation techniques will help there. In the style of tai chi I practice, we spend 10-15 minutes sinking chi into the lower dan tien after practicing the single forms (usually, long forms occasionally).

[h.uriahr]

At a later time I want to start some active work on building my dan tien and I am wondering how to go about that. I do a lot of Iyengar yoga and that takes care of the whole body in a very good way except not doing enough for strengthening the muscles in the dan tien and teaching you to move from the dan tien. To compensate I do 15 min of pilates each morning and that seems to fill the physical gap sufficiently. Iyengar also has a lot of restorative poses that are superb for relaxing the whole lower area and removing any constrictions that might be there so what I feel is lacking is something to strengthen the dan tien energeticly.Storing the energy in the dan tien with the secret smile seems to help and 10 minutes of standing like a tree as well but I feel I need more. I learnt some of Mantak Chias Dan Tien Chi kung and how to perform it a lot gentler than he teaches (the packing technique seems like it can create some problems unless done very gently) and that seemed to do a lot energeticaly and physucly but I feel that I need somethigng more gentle in the begining. So can anyone recomend me something that takes not much more than 15 minutes to strengthen the dan tien energetically? It could be qigong or meditation or breathing or whatever. At some point I will probably start doing the male deer excersise but are there other massage techniques I should consider for the dan tien?

 

You can simply rub the navel area counter clockwise and then clockwise.

[Trevcaru]

Here is a short video that may help. This is a Wujifa practice which helps develop the inguinal creases. If your inguinal creases (or kua) is frozen, like on almost every single person i have met (even those who practice tai chi), then the dantien can not connect to the rest of the body. This practice may look simple, but it is very profound. We can sit here all day talking about chi, and energy and bringing the chi down from the heavens and filling the dantien, but if there is no physical development (which is the explicit manifestation of the metaphysical) then you dont have anything.

 

This is my opinion of course. I see so many people who claim to be chi kung, tai chi, yoga practitioners, teachers, or the like but have no physical manifestation of their 'abilities'. I hope this doesnt offend but instead encourages others to go a step further.

 

Here is the video. Let me know if you find this useful. It may help to have some skill in Zhan Zhuang before training this 'side to side' exercise.

 

[Spirit Ape]

Markern,

 

Can I ask what is your purpose of Dan Tian training and what you expect to feel or sense or develop from it?

 

Thanks

Ape