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  As you may already know everyone has 3 DanTians: lower, middle, and upper. As explained in wuji – tai ji – tajiquan – taichi – whats the difference, the positions of the dantians within the body are important. The lower dantian is in your lower abdomen area, the middle dantian is in the center of the chest, and the upper dantian is between the eyebrows behind the skull, known as the third eye. Focusing your energy through meditation can create a calming effect as we know. Many times our meditation sessions are not particularly focused on any one thing, but are always focused on bringing in energy, known as qi/chi.

  The acquisition process of qi through meditation increases oxygen and blood flow to the body and brain. To assist in the acquisition process we can focus on our dan tians. When aligning the three dan tians with qi energy it’s important to remember that meditation is not a chore but a privilege. Reaching a relaxed state of deep breathing should be cherished and striven for.

   I actually found this excellent website which goes into great detail how to focus and align your dantians through meditation: Three Dantians and Central Channel. The quick guide I’m going to explain below is actually different than what you will find in that link, but it was worth mentioning.

Build Qi

1- Seated position focus on long deep breaths from your abdomen/stomach, not your lungs.
2- Close your eyes and focus on your body as a being.
3- Acknowledge your inner spirit and the energy it has.
4- Focus on your breathing, slow and relaxed.
5- Clear your mind of all thoughts, if you start to wonder just acknowledge it and let it go – back to breathing.
6- Begin to imagine the earth’s five elements and the energy they bring

Aligning your DanTian

1- Continue breathing deeply – begin to focus on your upper dantian, between your eyebrows.
2- Picture a small ball of energy, sphere, at your upper dantian.
3- As soon as you can picture the sphere move onto the lower dantian, your abdomen area. (try not to lose the sphere up top)
4- Try to create a second sphere of qi energy in your lower dantian.
5- Once you have two spheres of qi energy – keep breathing and hold them there for a few moments.
6- The hard part now, Try to refocus your energy and breathing to the center of your chest while keeping your qi flowing within the upper and lower dantian.
7- Once you can imagine three dantian qi spheres try to align them in a straght vertical align between your eyebrows, to the tip of the nose, past the neck, down the chest, to the abdomen.
8- Job well done!

   Even if you weren’t able to get the three full spheres of qi energy you should feel mentally and physically restored. This excercise focuses on deep breathing to clear the chest, stomach, and lungs. It also focuses on increasing blood flow to the organs and the brain to reduce swelling, headaches, stress, and fatigue.

   I just noticed that I scheduled this post late, instead of posting at 02:15 it posted at 22:15. Due to this I will keep this post up for 4/21 and 4/22, Wednesday. Thanks!

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This post is part of Tai Chi Tuesdays. Click Here if you would like to view more Tai Chi Tuesday posts.

Tai Chi Terms – Tai Chi Terminology
• This week’s Tai Chi agenda is just establishing some key terms which will help expand your knowledge of Tai Chi. This may be dry content, and can be found on the internet but is essential to understanding Tai Chi.
  Chi – life force; energy; living energy; Chi was closest described as an internal element of fire.
  Tai Chi – came from Taiji, which came from Tajiquan. Basically, older names for modern day Tai Chi. The give and take of Yin and Yang.
  Taijiquan - birthplace : Henan, Chenjigaou villiage which is in East Wenxian city. Created a form of martial art when they were not farming to protect themselves and their territory.
  Wuji – known as complete nothingness, no movement or activity, no noise or thought. “Wuji is the quiet before the very beginning or after the very end. Tai Chi comes from Wuji and returns to Wuji and is represented by the center circle within the large circle of the Tai Chi symbol.”
  
  Dan Tien – A Daoist term which refers to a center of energy. There are 3 Dan Tien’s, the lower dan tien being your lower abdomen, the middle dan tien being the center of your chest, the upper dan tien directly between the eyebrows behind the skull, known as the third eye.
  
•   Chinese philosophy says chi is generated with yin and yang. Yin and Yang is a fluid never ending relationship.
  “Yin – soft weak female passive dark earth side of yin/yang”
  and “Yang – hard strong male active bright heaven side of yin/yang”
  

  Yin: receiving, inward, downward, passive, heavy, stability, full, closed, earth

  Yang: sending, outward, upward, active, light, movement, empty, open, sky

    The following excerpt was taken from The Tai Chi Directory, “Tai Chi aims to create a balance between yin and yang in the body, thus generating a healthy flow of chi”, “Tai chi can be seen as a way of embracing the natural to-and-from of yin an yang, and letting a sense of equilibrium permeate the body and mind.”
  

  I whole heartily recommend The Tai Chi Directory by Kim Davies – It has helped me in my routine, practice, knowledge, and my lifestyle!
  

  Davies, K (2009). The Tai Chi Directory. New York, NY: Metro Books.

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