Should filling the Dan Tien be considered an important mile stone before an esoteric practitioner can move on to other practices.   Do we 'fill up' the Dan Tien just by deep full breathing and putting attention there? Does reverse breathing help the process? Is it necessary?   What are the markers of progress and are visualizations a help or hindrance?       I think it is vital and too often forgotten in the rush to learn more complicated practices. I think reverse breathing can help the process, and there are 'light' versions of it; a mental feeling of contraction of chi w/ a slight tightening of the butt, instead of the usual reversal of stomach movement during breath.   I like visualizations, but I'm trying not to use them much these days.   <edit> 9/6/14 the thread is on 26 pages and going strong. At some point I'd like to create a Best of.. this thread. Collect what I feel are the most important comments and condense them into a single cohesive post. Then put it on top to make it easier to find.   For some of these long, juicy, useful threads, it might be a cool idea for a OP writer to do this. Create a summary of the best thoughts, in one place so they're easier.