Our Energy Centres give us life force and vitality
In this short guide we’ll take a look at the dantian, a key part of 18 Lohan Qigong, Chen Tai Chi and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
Dantian’s are essentially our energy centres that give us vitality and life force. These centres are controlled by the Central Meridian which has the power to harmonise, balance and integrate the three centres. When all four are functioning well you have the key to dynamic happiness.
There are actually three dantian’s, and these are:
- Upper
- Middle
- Lower
What Does A Dantian Do?
A dantian plays a simple but powerful role in your body. It stores energy, as well as energy potential. In other words, it’s the place in our body we need to refuel if we’re to stay active and full of vigour. We are born with Yuan Qi, or Original Qi (kidney Qi) but we also gain Chi from our food, air, water called Zhong Qi. The lower dantian mainly stores this energy.
According to TCM, each of the three dantian is associated with one type of energy:
Upper Dantian – wisdom, intuition, intelligence, power to guide.
Your upper dantian is found centrally just above your eyebrows. This energy centre relates to your consciousness and spirit, and controls Shen which is your spiritual essence.
Middle Dantian – emotions, feeling, relationships, power to love.
Your middle dantian is found at your heart. This energy centre draws its energy from the air and your diet, and relates to your thoughts, emotions and feelings – especially love and compassion.
Lower Dantian -vitality, health, sexual energy, power to manifest.
Your lower dantian is found approx 3 finger widths below your navel. This source of energy is responsible for building up your physical body, allowing you to hone and use your Shen (spiritual essence) and Qi (life force).
This is the dantian most commonly referred to. The reason for this is that it’s considered to be our primary source of energy, with the idea being that energy – like heat – rises. Through the practice of Chen Tai Chi and Lohan Qigong you can increase the level and quality of energy in the lower dantian. This in turn helps the quality of energy in the middle and upper dantian.
Think of your lower dantian as your bio battery. When it’s on full-charge, you can perform at your maximum. In Lohan Qigong and Chen Tai Chi, your lower dantian plays a vital role in storing the energy that is built up when doing specific breathing and exercises.
Why You Need To Look After Your Energy Centres
The aim of 18 Lohan Qigong and Chen Tai Chi is to revitalise, refuel and store energy so that your energy levels – and therefore life force – is never depleted. The goal is to keep your body, mind and spirit functioning at optimum levels so that you remain strong and healthy, both physically and mentally. This will help you through difficult mental times, and will also boost your powers of recovery from illness.
If you look after your three energy centres and keep each of them optimised, you have an increased chance of enjoying wellbeing. Lohan Qigong and Chen Tai Chi exercises are simple, and are the best way to improve your ability to replenish your dantian.
We hope this short guide was of great help for you.
