Breathing through the heels

[Jeff]

Can you control the taking in and sending out at will? Can you tell us what does it feel like? Something like the quote below?

 

Yes, I can draw in or send out at the feet when focusing on it. But, it is more just sort of natural for me to extend. For me, it feels like very fine vibrations, almost like vibrating "light". Also, there is a very high pitched tone that can be heard when connecting deeper into the earth and focusing on it.

[sillybearhappyhoneyeater]

In regard to Zhuangzi's writing, it is very hard to say whether this was a specific technique back to that time, since it is not fully introduced, but we can interrogate it from the point of view of later meditation schools in Daoism.

 

In the various "Qi fa" sections in "xiao dao zang" there are no methods that focus specifically on breathing into the heals, but there are many methods which will allow the Qi to penetrate to the Yong Chun point in the feet.  

If we look at Nei Dan practice, although there is no "breathing to the feet" there are practices in Li Xiyue's writing (san che mi yao) which focus on lying on your right side and focusing on the Yin qiao meridian in the legs, as well as seated practices which focus on what he calls the yin qiao cavity (under the qi xue, between the perenium and anus).

The Qing dynasty Daoist medicine book "Yang Sheng Lei yao" has a practice which focuses on sending post heaven qi around the heal up the back of the legs to the head and back down, but that is very "post heaven" and that book is the only place I've seen it.

 

Usually, the best way of "breathing to the heals" is just to practice meditation until the Qi naturally reaches down the Yin qiao into the feet.  That is one of the phases of the yin qiao opening and once you can do it all the time, it can help the rest of your body open up as well.   opening ren and du is called "he che" but opening the structure of the meridians in the leg that connect all up to the head is called "da he che" and you eventually need to be able to do both.

[Bindi]

From the OP...

 

From the Song period (960-1270), under the influence of neidan, zhongxi also refers to the circulation of the inner energies that descend to the heels and then rise from the yŏngquán 湧泉 point, located in the middle of the sole of the foot, to the top of the head.

Is this maybe a description of the macrocosmic orbit opening up?

[dwai]

When all the energetic "water wheels" are active and turning, the feeling we get is of circulation down the outer sides of the legs through the soles and up the inner sides of the legs up to the Kua.

 

This circulation occurs simultaneous to what is called the microcosmic orbit. Also simultaneously there are arm water wheels that are turning as well.

 

The feeling I get when this happens is a lightness (literally like there is a soft, luminous flow inside the legs (and all through the body actually).when the energy circulates this way, the feeling is like the breath rises up from the heels.

 

This is what I consider "breathing from the heels"...