I’m trying to concentrate energy (Qi) into my lower dantian, but I can’t feel anything.

[yuuichi]

So I have been vegetarian for a while, and celibate for about a month.

 

When I meditate on my lower dantian (2-3 inches behind the navel), I can keep concentration there for a long time. After 20-30 minutes, everything feels numb. My arms and legs have lost all sensation and all I can perceive is my lower dantian.

 

When I stop meditating and open my eyes, my body or lower dantian doesn’t feel any different at all. My mind feels more still, but that is the case after any meditation.

 

I have been doing this for 2 weeks and despite my celibacy, I don’t feel like I have a lot of energy. I don’t feel like my lower dantian is full of energy.

 

Also, I don’t know if I should do reverse abdominal breathing, abdominal breathing or regular breathing.

Normally during meditation, the breath gets more subtle and barely moves the body. Perhaps abdominal breathing is more for qigong? Strangely, during meditation, reverse abdominal breathing feels more natural, but I don’t know if I’m supposed to do that.

[Rocky Lionmouth]

Abdominal breathing is ”regular” in cases of meditation and qigong, imo.

 

The thing with what you describe is that it takes a long time and neither vegetarianism or celibacy has any guarantees as far as developing something along the lines of what you’re hoping for. The only thing to do is to keep the work up and let it build over time. You won’t feel the actual qi, forget about that. Just keep doing your exercises and don’t focus too hard on your Dan Ti, let awareness rest there, do some light exercise, stretching and qigong also, that should move things along a little over the coming six months.

[yuuichi]

Would acupuncture help?

 

Also, what am I supposed to feel? I heard some people say one should feel a warmth. 

[Kar3n]

11 minutes ago, yuuichi said:

Would acupuncture help?

 

Also, what am I supposed to feel? I heard some people say one should feel a warmth. 

Allow for your own experience to unfold naturally. Comparing experiences and having expections based on others can be a huge pitfall and can hold you back from natural progression. 

[yuuichi]

I respectfully disagree.

 

If you don’t have a destination, in what direction do you take the next step? If I don’t know the destination, the next step (incorrect practice) could be a dangerous one.

 

So I’m asking this forum for any advice. Preferably from someone experienced enough to know what sensations I should feel, when following the correct practice. I’m sure the Daoist sages have described it too, but so few Daoist manuscripts and literature have been translated into english.

[qofq]

 

Quote

Allow for your own experience to unfold naturally. Comparing experiences and having expectations based on others can be a huge pitfall and can hold you back from natural progression. 

 

1 hour ago, yuuichi said:

I respectfully disagree.

 

If you don’t have a destination, in what direction do you take the next step? If I don’t know the destination, the next step (incorrect practice) could be a dangerous one.

 

So I’m asking this forum for any advice. Preferably from someone experienced enough to know what sensations I should feel, when following the correct practice. I’m sure the Daoist sages have described it too, but so few Daoist manuscripts and literature have been translated into english.

 

Disagreeing is insignificant.   

 

Your practice will also be, should you be too dense to recognize good advice.  

 

Find a teacher.  

Edited May 5, 2019 by qofq

[Kar3n]

12 hours ago, yuuichi said:

I respectfully disagree.

 

If you don’t have a destination, in what direction do you take the next step? If I don’t know the destination, the next step (incorrect practice) could be a dangerous one.

 

So I’m asking this forum for any advice. Preferably from someone experienced enough to know what sensations I should feel, when following the correct practice. I’m sure the Daoist sages have described it too, but so few Daoist manuscripts and literature have been translated into english.

Very well, but when you're stuck feeling something different than what someone else described and wondering what you're doing "wrong" because Joe Blow on the intenet felt...

 

Don't say you weren't warned against it.

 

Best wishes.

[Rocky Lionmouth]

On 2019-05-05 at 1:18 AM, yuuichi said:

Would acupuncture help?

 

Also, what am I supposed to feel? I heard some people say one should feel a warmth. 

 

Help with what? Thats a destination to name.

 

You’re not supposed to feel something, you’re supposed to feel. See what comes from there. Warmth, tingling and all that stuff is just initial stuff, never mind that. Just do your thing and keep at it. Never force and always figure out how to ground. If you develop a LDT you can circulate and research all you want, just ground it and let it rest where it’s supposed to.

 

If you want a destination to go to, get a teacher. You can go at the basics alone and you will make mistakes and you will discover things, with pr without a teacher,

[Rocky Lionmouth]

Reverse breathing in meditation is fine, just remember not to force or push. As soon as something other than your belly moves because of your technique then you’re forcing.

 

Do bear in mind that whatever you practice will change over time as you gain experience and continuity. But before you can even say you’ve given this stuff a try go at it for a few years.

Celibacy is great because it ups your frustration, gets you mad and irritable which makes concentrating and releasing and all that harder. But it’s not for everyone and unless you accept whatever it brings then don’t do it.

 

Regarding feeling ”nothing”:

thats ok, just feel that nothing, what if you were feeling pain instead?

[Toni]

Train, train and train... Anyway I would suggest you abdominal breathing in qigong and meditation

Edited May 6, 2019 by Toni

[thelerner]

On 5/4/2019 at 6:32 PM, Kar3n said:

Allow for your own experience to unfold naturally. Comparing experiences and having expections based on others can be a huge pitfall and can hold you back from natural progression. 

 

16 hours ago, Toni said:

Train, train and train... Anyway I would suggest you abdominal breathing in qigong and meditation

Between Kar3n and Toni, you've got pretty solid tradition advice. 

 

 

A technique I picked up from Stillness Movement gi gong,  keeping hands against my lower dan tien, versus a few inches away on my lap.  Seems to focus me more on the lower dan tien and generates more heat.  From the same art, a little natural bobbing motion helps me stay in position without my legs going numb for longer. 

[exorcist_1699]

On 5/5/2019 at 7:18 AM, yuuichi said:

Would acupuncture help?

 

 

 

To most people , qi  appears to them  in those forms of  diseases  so they can't identify  the energy behind .Acupressure ( not  acupuncture , for it  is a skill difficult and dangerous to be tried by an amateur ) is  an alternative to let people taste what qi feel like; memorizing those acupoints and their effects are not  that difficult ,  a series of acupoints: "氣海"   ("Qi Hai") , " 關元 " ("Kwan Yuan") ..etc  under our navel can be the  start point .

 

How about moxibustion ? Yes,  but there are many  places you shouldn't  do moxibustion,  so you need to  have  lot of  knowledge about TCM,especially the meridians , before you start  .

 

Can we invent a machine to initialize qi ?  Quite an old question ,it depends  what level of qi you want to raise..besides, don't forget  that jing-qi-shen are always linked in certain state , so solely having  a physical device doesn't help much . 

Edited May 7, 2019 by exorcist_1699

[freeform]

On 04/05/2019 at 11:19 PM, yuuichi said:

When I meditate on my lower dantian (2-3 inches behind the navel), I can keep concentration there for a long time.

 

Different schools approach this in different ways.

 

If you’re creating your own methods from bits you’ve come across you’ll cause issues that will set you back or close this path permanently for you. I’ve come across many cases unfortunately.

 

A key thing that I imagine is already causing issues is this ‘concentration’. You need to learn to sink your mind. You can then sink your mind to you Dantien. Moving your awareness down there isn’t sinking.

 

You sink your mind by first recognising where it is (usually around the head or heart area), then relaxing and not engaging it until it starts to sink of its own accord. It takes time - longer than a few weeks

[dwai]

On 5/4/2019 at 5:19 PM, yuuichi said:

So I have been vegetarian for a while, and celibate for about a month.

 

When I meditate on my lower dantian (2-3 inches behind the navel), I can keep concentration there for a long time. After 20-30 minutes, everything feels numb. My arms and legs have lost all sensation and all I can perceive is my lower dantian.

 

When I stop meditating and open my eyes, my body or lower dantian doesn’t feel any different at all. My mind feels more still, but that is the case after any meditation.

 

I have been doing this for 2 weeks and despite my celibacy, I don’t feel like I have a lot of energy. I don’t feel like my lower dantian is full of energy.

 

Also, I don’t know if I should do reverse abdominal breathing, abdominal breathing or regular breathing.

Normally during meditation, the breath gets more subtle and barely moves the body. Perhaps abdominal breathing is more for qigong? Strangely, during meditation, reverse abdominal breathing feels more natural, but I don’t know if I’m supposed to do that.

Follow the instructions in this video and just stand. Qi will sink automatically to the belly. Once enough Qi has sunk to your belly region, then you can easily refine into the LDT. 

 

Spoiler

 

 

Edited May 9, 2019 by dwai

[rideforever]

The Dantien is felt lower than the navel (although for women it may be at navel level, I don't know).

 

It sounds like you are actually inside your mind when you practice.   This is not correct practice.   In this case what is happening is that with your mind you are focussing on any area of your body and create a new energy there.   This is wrong because you do not feel the Dantien that is already there, and also ... you are still in the your mind rather than actually dropping into the belly.

 

Best way is to feel the breathing at the belly.   Just flow with it.   Do not adjust it in any way.   The breathing is already breathing, just be one with it, at the belly level.   Firstly from the mind you notice the breathing in the belly, you notice it coming in and going out.   But drop into the belly.   Do not remain in the head watching the belly from the head.   Drop into the belly.   How ?   It happens naturally if you relax and on the exhale just fall down gently.   Feel the belly, and on the exhale fall down into the belly.   So that you are in the belly and not in the head.

 

And doing this practice you will feel that the Qi is rising into the body from the place called Dantien in the belly.   First you start with the breathing, but you notice that what we call breathing is actually the Qi fill the body from the Dantien.   You feel the belly expanding and contracting, and in the centre is the Dantien, where the Qi rises into the body and falls out of the body.

 

Continue.

[ilumairen]

@yuuichi How much movement and exercise do you do in a typical day?