Kidneys: Fluidity With Non-Dual Vision

Posted on July 1, 2017 by admin

The tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named
is not the eternal Name

The unnamable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin
of all particular things.

Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.

Yet mystery and manifestations
arise from the same source.
This course is called darkness.

Darkness within darkness
The gateway to all understanding.

Lao-tzu, in chapter one of the Tao Te Ching, ( Stephen Mitchell’s translation) presents the Tao’st non-dual vision succinctly and mysteriously. The ‘realization’ of the Truth underlying the Tao Te Ching is also the goal of yoga. To paraphrase Lao-tzu, ‘Being’ and ‘Becoming’, two radically different and totally essential perspectives from which life can be experienced, are actually expressions of fundamental wholeness. Being (mystery for Lao-tzu) is a synonym for ‘Infinite Stillness’, ‘Now’, ‘Purusha’ etc. Being (unexpressable in words, but we try anyway!) is unbounded, unlimited, unchanging pure potentiality, resting as pregnant stillness. And all is “I’, I am. There is no ‘other, which is the fundamental premise of the non-dual view.

Becoming (manifestations) refers to the evolutionary journey of the cosmos evolving and complexifying through time, expressing itself in the form of quarks and galaxies, fields and flow and everything else, imaginable and yet to be imagined; and of course, our own moment to moment unfolding in time and space, constantly changing, ever mysterious. Non-Dual vision refers to a life grounded in the knowing that both points of view are part of a whole ‘Self’, and need to be cultivated and integrated to lead a spiritually fulfilling life. The challenge in awakening and remaining awake is to hold both perspectives simultaneously, moment to moment, understanding what each offers as we respond to our unfolding life adventure.

The reality is however that ‘Being’ is elusive. Living only from ‘Becoming’, the ever-changing world of manifestation, leads to what Pema Chodron calls the essential ambiguity of the human condition. We all crave a stability of ‘well being’, but this cannot be found in a world of continuous ‘Becoming’. Somewhere along the line we decide that ‘well being’ means always have things go the way we want them to, which means much of life is seen as alien, or other.

The ahamkara, the Samkhya term for the aspect of mind that develops strategies for making the world conform to our wishes. This requires constantly managing our likes and dislikes, which themselves are always changing. These strategies crystallize as various selves or voices, also known as ego. Vast amounts of mind activity is spent by these dualistic voices in our heads complaining about how the universe is not flowing the way we want it to, right now. If it doesn’t make me feel good, it is ‘not me’, and either useless or dangerous. To a dualistic mind, the world is overwhelmingly ‘not me’. (Citta vrtti nirodhah, anyone?)

However, inevitably, various trivial yet unavoidable irritations like mosquito bites, traffic jams and ‘other people’ intrude on our sense of well being. At a deeper level, whether we consciously acknowledge it or not, we all know that our own death is inevitable, some day. So are all other sorts of loss, such as the death of friends and family, loss of jobs, homes, and friendships, divorce and other relational traumas. We just never know when, we have no control over these phenomena, and often no way to even see them coming. (Sadly, literally and ironically, as I was writing this paragraph, this beautiful old oak tree in our back yard gave up the ghost.) And we (our dualistic voices or selves, posing as us) hate this! We want stability and security that a constantly changing world can never provide. Our various ‘selves’ try defend themselves by grabbing onto the good stuff and fighting off the bad.

Buddha made this struggle to fortify and defend our self-sense against the reality of being the first of his ‘Four Noble Truths’ and called it dukha or suffering. These various dualistic ‘selves’ posing as the true ‘I am’ find security by fixating on ideas, beliefs and strategies about what makes us ‘feel good’ and what makes us feel bad. This inhibits flow and it is this ‘fixation’ that is the cause of suffering.

Ultimately, this fixation is because the dualistic mind hates ambiguity. It (we) wants our truths simple and absolute, which is, of course, fundamentalism. We see this story being played out across the planet, in religion, politics, economics, education and more. President Trump is a fairly extreme version of the fixated, dualistic mind gone wild, but we all have a bit of Trump in us.

Most students who walk into a yoga class do not want ambiguity. They want to know ‘how to do the pose the right way’. We all hope yoga will offer a safe haven from the vicissitudes of life. It will, if we can take on the non-dual view. As inhabitants of a constantly changing body/mind vehicle, at a core level, we all begin as fundamentalists. But a somatic practice is a profoundly effective path to unraveling these fixations. Although our psychological and emotional ones can easily remain unseen, in the ‘shadow’ aspect of our unconscious, the physiological and physical stuck spots become immediately apparent as soon as we begin working with asana. The breath has constrictions and the muscles, joints and connective tissues have knots and blockages galore.

The dualistic mind wants to ‘get rid of’ these blockages, because they are painful, or even embarrrassing if their limitations rub up against a ‘yoga self image’ of being open and flexible. And there very well be some stored trauma that needs careful therapeutic processing. If we have a ‘fixed belief’ that the fixations are a problem to be removed, the fixations remain ‘other’ and the dualistic mind will never find freedom. However, it is possible not to get stuck here, and that is the true goal of any spiritual practice. If we can learn to see these stuck places as our teachers, guides and sources of potential growth welcome them with an open heart, a whole new realm awakens. And here is where the kidneys can be of great service to us.

As yogi-somanauts exploring the layers and levels of aliveness in our cells, fluids and organs, we occasionally discover regions that are involved with integrating many levels of life activity. Lately the cosmos has had me spending time with the kidneys, and wow, is this an amazing place to play, because the kidneys are masters of non-dual awareness!

Amazingly enough, the kidneys, as understood in Chinese Medicine, are totally at home in ambiguity because they are true Tao’ists. They rest in ultimate mystery while they act in life. As the guardians of the water element in the body, they know flow. They accept the moment as it is, and simultaneously, apply untold millions of years of intelligent learning and experience to respond to the needs of the moment. Organic well being is their goal, but realize that this is not a fixed place.

Chinese medicine is based on the non-dual wisdom of Taoism and looks to sustain a deep harmony with all levels of reality, manifest and unmanifest. If we can begin to tune into our kidney energy and the kidney fields as they operate in our moment to moment life processes, they can help us to embody the non-dual capacity to embrace ambiguity and awaken to the organic intelligence of life itself.

As a starting point the anatomical kidneys, sitting at the center of the body offer us accurate reference points to help bring feeling and perception to the deeper tissues and fluids in this key region of the body. Using breath and imagination, we can track the subtle movements (and restrictions!) of the kidneys in the three spatial dimensions. The easiest is as they move up and down following the diaphragm. Front and back, or right and left are more subtle. These spatial polarities are included in what Patanjali calls the dvandvas, the pairs of opposites that are integrated through the practice of asana. (II-48 tato dvandva anabhigatah). It is also through this integration of opposites that rajas (action) and tamas (rest) lead to sattva, the state of transparent harmony that allows non-dual insight to arise. (Later in this article we will see how rajas and tamas are analogous to the yang and yin of Tao’ism.)

In the Tao’ist model, all manifestations, or creation, arise as combinations of two primary qualities of existence known as yin and yang, representing the basic principles of inter-connectedness and constant change. As depicted in the well known symbol above, yin and yang can not be separated, and yet they appear to be opposite to each other. Yin cools, yang heats. Yin condenses, yang expands. Yin represents the feminine and all the qualities of Mother Earth. Yang represents the masculine and the qualities of Father Sky, the heavens or celestial realms. They are in an intimate relationship with each other, working as one to maintain a balance that allows creation to thrive.

Yin and yang perfectly describe the paradox of biology and aliveness itself. Life is ambiguous, sustaining itself by constantly hovering in a narrow band between too much and not enough. Variables like temperature are fairly straight forward. You can die from hypothermia, or excess fever so the body constantly adjusts its processes to balance the elements of fire (heating/yang) and water (cooling/yin) keeping the temperature at 98.6 degrees F. Most biological systems, however involve far more complex relationships involving psychological, emotional and metabolic processes with proteins, waste products, hormones, neurotransmitters, nutrients and more. But ultimately, a successful life comes down to balancing yin and yang at every possible level.

The kidneys are one of the twelve “organs” described in Chinese Medicine. There are 6 categorized as yin, involved with supporting and nourishing, with each of these paired with one of 6 yang organs involved with dynamic action. These ‘organs” are not exactly the organs aswe know in Western Medicine. Rather, they represent complex sets of relationships, interactions and modulations centered on the physical organ and the physiology recognized in the west, but also spreading out through the whole being in subtle and surprising ways. Each organ has an associated meridian line with numbered ‘cavities’ where acupuncture needles can be inserted to stimulate the inner system.

In Chinese Medicine, the kidneys play a foundational role. Kidneys are a ‘yin’ organ and associated with grounding, cooling, receiving. But, as this is a Tao’st system, kidneys have both yin and yang qualities and energies, (as do all of the organ systems).

Kidneys represent the water element and are said to be the ocean of the human body. The oceans sit at the lowest place on the earth and waters of the lakes, rivers and streams flow down to rejoin them. The sun (Fire) evaporates the ocean water, converting it to mist clouds and rain, which fall back to earth filling the lakes rivers and streams and continuing the cycle.

Kidney yin, also called primordial yin, true yin or true water, is the foundation of the yin fluid of the whole body; it moistens and nourishes the organs and tissues. Kidney yang, also called primordial yang, true yang or true fire, is the foundation of the yang qi of the whole body; it warms and promotes the functions of the organs and tissues. Thus the yin/yang balance of each organ depends upon the yin/yang balance of the kidneys.

The kidneys store also ‘jing’ or essence (there is no real western word to cover this). Jing is the primordial substance before yin and yang emerge and is said to be the seed of the life process. Pre-natal jing comes from the egg and sperm of the parents, and we might say jing involves the unique expression of the DNA and becomes a core part of a persons constitution. Adding to this in the post-natal jing, the life force essence derived from what is absorbed from the environment, including food, but also psychological, emotional and spiritual energies.

Jing or essence is not a substance but a quality or potential for growing, maturing and evolving that differentiates the living from the non-living forms of the universe. With healthy jing we age gracefully and consciously. Jing is the source of reproduction and as kidneys store jing, they have an intimate relationship with the genital organs. The kidneys and gonads emerge from the same tissues embryologically, so this is no surprise. It truly seems that the Tao’ists who first articulated the principles of Chinese Medicine had an intimate and intuitive connection to the embryological development process.

There is also a strong shamanic link to the kidneys as they connect us to our ancestors. Not only through the obvious action of the genes, but the subtle energy fields as well. My cranio-sacral guru is helping me track my paternal lineage karma through my right kidney and I am working to heal some old wounds carried for many generations by my Irish ancestors.

Jing is said to produce marrow so kidneys ‘rule the bones’. The ‘inner sea of marrow’ also includes the brain and spinal cord, so healthy kidneys lead to a healthy brain. The ears are the ‘outer opening to the kidneys’ through the sea of marrow and the brain.

Kidneys ‘grasp the qi’, which means that during the inhalation the kidneys help draw the breath into the lungs and down to the pelvic region. (We will practice this later.) Kidneys also store the ‘will’. Yang will is the dynamic assertive quality of being. Yin will is noticed in stillness, resting in irreducible mystery, or being deeply connected to the unknown and you will see an extraordinary demonstration of kidney yin later in the post.

Finally, the kidneys ‘dominate anterior and posterior orifices’, the anus and the uro-genital openings. In addition to the previously mentioned reproductive capacities, the kidneys also have water relationships with the bladder and large intestine, the two yang organs involved in excretion. Dysfunction in here may be traced back to kidney deficiencies. In the practice section, we will explore this relationship in a variation of our micro-cosmic orbit meditation we introduced in a previous post by attending to the seat of the yin at CV 1.

(An excellent introduction to the mysteries of Chinese Medicine and the source of most of this overview is ‘The Web That Has No Weaver’ by Ted Kaptchuk. Also essential to my understanding is my weekly sessions with my TCM teacher, John Hickey.)

Explorations in Energy-Flow Meditation:

Using the diagram below as a map, in any sitting posture, first establish your core line, using your breath and imagination to connect heart center with crown (GV-20) and the heavens, and root chakra (CV-1) and the earth. The center your awareness at CV-1 the seat of the yin, at the center of the perineum. You may feel this as a simultaneous and subtle tucking and untucking energy flow that meets and balances here. Let this point extend down into the ground on inhalation and spring back up on the exhalation, cultivating elasticity.

Now, imagine/feel that on the inhalation, the downward breath flows through GV-4, down to CV-1 and around the corner and up to CV-6. Let the exhalation reverse this pathway. After several breaths reverse the whole pattern. On the inhalation, feel the breath/energy flowing through CV-6 to CV-1, around the corner and up to GV-4; on the exhalation, reverse. Then, pause and rest in the stillness at the center of the balanced energy field.

These are major points for kidney yin and yang and begin to awaken what is called the lower dantian, the energy field of the lower third of the body and the root of embodied existence. No thoughts arise here. Just energy and presence. (The middle dantian is centered around the heart and the upper dantian around the midbrain. See the diamonds in the illustration above.) As described in the previous post, you can add more points to your meditation/flow tracking to explore the whole circuit. To work physiologically, as you travel back and forth through CV-1, from CV-6 to GV-4, feel both the anal and urogential regions softening and relaxing away from the center, allowing blood flow, space and presence. Visualize all of the pelvic organs breathing freely, bathing in the sea of qi. Feel the connection to the kidneys. Feel lateral space as well.

Now shift your attention, using this foundation, and begin to imagine the kidneys and lungs working together. “Grapsing the qi” feels like the descending kidneys help open the lower back lungs to have a fuller in-breath, as the back diaphragm expands and lengthens downward as well. On the exhalation, maintain the rooted feeling even as the kidneys and diaphrgam rise back up to keep the lift of the heart. In embryology, the final kidneys (the are two other sets of proto-kidneys that disappear during development) begin in the pelvis. Interestingly enough, they remain where they are and the whole lower body including the lumbar spine and pelvis grows downward, leaving the kidneys where we find them today. (see diagram above) Finally, play with the points and patterns in the above diagram in any way your intuition and imagination allows. Let it come alive for you in your own unique way.

Somatic Explorations

Embodying kidney yin and yang: From the foundation of the above practices, bring this awareness to standing. In tadasana, as you bring one knee up, feel the kidney on that side descending and the back muscles softening, without collapsing the front body. This is awakening the kidney ‘yin’. If you do this on an inhalation, feel the kidney ‘grasping the qi’ and track the breath down into the pelvis.

As you extend the leg back without tightening the spinal muscles, land on K-1 and feel the front of the kidney opening and the yang kidney energy rising up, If the spinal muscles contract, you are not releasing the kidneys. To complete this action, allow your heel to land as well, not by pushing the knee back, but by releasing the yin kidney energy down with the heel. Feel the kidney-heel connection.

Using a wall for balance, try this in ardha chandrasana. From the full pose, bring the top leg toward the chest and feel the release of the lower back muscles. Go deeper. Feel this as the kidney yin energy releasing down into the pelvis and the lower dantian. When you extend the leg back to its final position, extend from the energy of the dantian/kidneys and not by overworking the muscles. This will feel fluid and effortless.

An extreme kidney yin pose is child pose, a very quieting posture that, if your knees allow, creates a cooling and deeply quiet interior. Bring you attention to your kidneys and visualize them softening, cooling, resting. Do not struggle with the muscles. Support yourself as necessary. If you knees do not allow such deep flexion, you can do this pose sitting on a chair and resting your head on a desk, table or second chair.

All forward bending postures, if down without collapsing the front body, cultivate the cooling kidney yin energy. Uttanasana, because the legs are extending (yang), will be less cooling than child pose, and you can see the possible spectrum available with the different forward bending poses. These postures are very helpful in the heat of the summer.

Backbends, in contrast, awaken kidney yang, if done without tightening the spinal muscles. The kidney organs still flow down toward the pelvis to root the core energy and support the base, but the front of the kidneys open and release the energy trapped in the connective tissues of the mesentery and blood vessels. this flows up to help open the heart. The kidney yin is still present to balance the overall tone. In this pose the knees and hips are flexed, adding a bit more yin to the pose. The Bhoga block sits right under the kidney region to act as a fulcrum to balance yin and yang, up to the heart and down to the pelvis. There is an old constriction at the root of the skull leading to the color shift at the throat.

In supported ustrasana/supta virasana there is a stronger action on the kidneys, so more attention is required to keep the glutes engaged to help the kidney yin flowing down stream to the seat of the yin at CV-1. Because this is supported, it is a more yin pose than unsupported, and can actually allow a deep resting in stillness.

“My kapotasana is just like your savasana!” One of my all time favorite quotes, and I was there watching. B.K.S. Iyengar, in the middle of an asana demonstration at Sanders Theater, Cambridge, MA, 1987. Although a fiery guy, he knew how to utilize his kidney yin will to deepen stillness, even in dynamic poses.

One crucial thing I have learned in the past year is that healthy kidney yin helps lower the blood pressure. Too much kidney yang and not enough kidney yin raises the blood pressure. I have my home blood pressure kit to verify this.

Twisting Poses affect the kidneys in differing ways, depending on what else is going on in the posture. As an example, this simple standing twist using the wall becomes a very different pose by adding a little more kidney yin action. With the bent front knee and the foot supported, the pose becomes standing marichyasana, one of the key postures used in the therapeutic classes in Pune.

In any twists of your choice, notice the way the kidneys move apart and together with the breath. Notice if one has more space and movement and try to balance them. Any in any poses, from sirsasana to savasana say hello to your kidneys. Let them speak to you, and teach you about balance and ultimate stillness.

Boston Notes: 2

Posted on June 8, 2017 by admin

Microscosmic Orbit, Abdominal Breathing and
Finding Support in the Asanas
(A little more detail than we covered in May, but consider it your homework for October.

Find your root chakra, aka CV-1 or the ‘seat of yin’.
Find your crown chakra, aka GV-20 , the ‘seat of yang’ or ‘hundred convergences’.

Visualize your ‘Conception Vessel’, Yin in nature, running along the front of the body, from the center of the perineum up to the bottom lip. As we are working with the energy fields, we can visualize this as most of the front circle as shown in the hula hoop below.

Visualize the Governing Vessel, Yang in nature, running from your perineum, up the back body, around the crown chakra and down to the upper lip.

Imagine them linked in a circle like the hoop below, outside the body, except for root and crown. Because we are working with the energy field as well as specific regions of the body, we can use the circular image. Imagine a flow of energy following the circle, beginning at CV-1, moving up the front and down the back, linking root and crown. Then reverse, from CV-1 up the back and down the front.

For a greater challenge, try the double action of both at the same time to create the sense of a suspended field of energy. Relax as much as possible and then find the chakra line, aka the ‘Thrusting Vessel’, running as a diameter connecting root and crown from the inside.

Tucking and Untucking

If we take the double action just at the root chakra, or CV-1, we have the dynamic tuck/untuck action that activates and integrates the pelvic floor with legs and core. Try in simple sitting poses at first. Then tadasana. In uttanasana, try this: In going from tadasana into uttanasana, the primary action is untucking the sitting bones as the pelvis flexes/rotates around the femur heads. At the same time let the tucking action be taken at the coccyx to complete the double action. The reverse happens when going from uttanasana back to tadasana. Here the primary action is tucking the sitting bones down, extending the pelvis around the femurs. Subtly let the tail bone untuck to complete the double action. Next feel the double action all the way through the crown as well.

So, to reiterate, all backbends fundamentally require strong pelvic extension over the femurs, or strong tucking. Counterbalance by subtly untucking the coccyx. Now, as a beginner, your sitting bones and coccxy may be stuck together and the double action is difficult. Whatever action releases the spine for you in the moment is the correct one. Tucking the coccyx may feel opening. For beginners in forward bends, tight groins and hamstrings limit the ability to untuck the sitting bones. Be careful not to contract the spine trying to untuck. All forward bends require strong untucking of the sitting bones to deepen the flexion, but this has to come from a release of the front spine/psoas. Work with the image/energy of the circles to keep from collapsing or overworking.

For many beginning students, tadasana is a back bend because the groins are short and getting the pelvis parallel to the legs is a challenge. The double action can be learned in tadadana by squeezing a block with the thighs, internally rotating the femurs rolling the block backwards to untuck. Keep the action of the legs while you extend/tuck the pelvis. This action in double action of the pelvic region in tadasana is present in every asana, which is why tasdasana is said to be the root of all the asanas.

In the asymetrica poses, where one hip joint flexes and one extends, the double action gets a bit tricky. In the pose to the left, the left hip is going into flexion requiring an ‘untucking of the sitting bones and a ‘tucking’ of the tail bone. The Right leg is tucking the sitting bones and untucking the tail. If you feel this deeply you ay notice that untucking opens the botton of the groin, below the pubis, and tucking opens the top of the groin, above the pubis. Ideally both top and bottom of the groins stay open to keep the energy freely flowing between torso and legs. Easier said than done!

Opening the Neck and Throat

To work with neck challenges, there is a double action between neck and skull that you can explore. In the diagram below, the base of the skull is near GV-16. When flexing the skull (bowing the head) GV-16 goes up. This will tend to push CV-22 just behind the sternal notch downward. The double action is to lift CV – 22 when flexing the neck. this keeps the throat soft and open. When looking upward and GV-16 is dropping, pull CV-22 downward as well. This keeps the back of the neck from collapsing into an isolated contraction. To help, us your fingers on the scalene muscles on the sides of the throat. Looking down, draw the scalenes up. Looking up, draw the scalenes down.

Abdominal Breathing:

In the chart above, notice the three diamonds. These correspond to the three bony cavities of the body; the skull, the rib cage, and the pelvis. Or in Tao’ist practice, three energy fields known as ‘dan tians’. In neuroscience, there are three different nervous systems corresponding to these spaces; the brain, the heart and the gut body, each with its own mode of ‘consciousness.

In general, when the breath flows freely through the lower dan tian or the region from the navel to the pelvic floor, the mind becomes quiet, the emotions settle, and the organism can store energy, like a battery being charged.

Sitting comfortably, imagining the three spaces and the energy field of the body, allow the inhalation to descend down to the pelvic floor. Feel CV-1, the seat of the yin pulling down like the subtle drawing of a bow. Feel the kidneys descending creating space for the lungs to expand. Keep the heart lifting gently, as if CV-12 is lifting as CV-1 drops. Feel the pelvis widening and deepening as well.

As you exhale, feel effortlessly CV-1 lifting and the abdominal wall slowly squeezing to release the breath. Keep your attention remaining down in the lower center during the exhalation so you strengthen your sense of ground and weight. Don’t force the breath, but invite it to expand and condense smoothly and evenly. You can practice smooth steady exhaling by adding an ‘O’ or ‘AH” sound, or blowing into a saxophone or other horn and sustaining an even tone.

The key is to keep you awareness down in to lower center and use the breath to soften and open the organs, tissues and cells. This ‘yin’ breathing is quieting and energizing.

Microcosmic Orbit Meditation.

When the abdominal breathing becomes stronger and easier, you can explore using some of the acupuncture cavities as reference points to focus your attention.

As you inhale and CV-1 descends, draw the energy up the front to CV-6. On the exhalation, let your attention flow back to CV-1. Repeat.

Or, inhale CV-1 to CV-6 to CV-12; exhale to GV-4 to CV-1, completing a small circuit. Repeat.

Or, inhale CV-1 to GV-4 to CV-12: exhale to CV-6 to CV-1. Repeat.

Use the chart to help you remember the cavities. Work your way up to CV 22 and then GV-20, up the front/down the back and then up the back and then down the front, always returning to CV-1.

Complete your practice by allowing the body to digest and integrate, either in simple sitting or savasana.

Yin, Yang and Beyond

Posted on May 22, 2017 by admin

Notes from Boston and Portland, May 2017

Intention: 1. to keep awakening to the emerging depths of love, compassion and wisdom in ourselves, by aligning with the innate intelligence of the Cosmos; and to use our own unique set of skills to make things a little bit better, as best we can. May all beings be happy; May all beings find inner peace; May all beings be free from suffering.

Intention: 2: to discover the sacred geometrical patterns of cosmic intelligence, in form and flow, within and without, and nurture and integrate them into our daily lives.

Attention: What are the key points in the human energy field that, when discovered and nurtured, allow us to bring healing and harmony to our lives and the world around us? What are the primary rhythms of life and the cosmic intelligence that allow harmony, balance, stability and flow? How can yoga postures and practice use these points and rhythms to deepen our innate sense of stillness (Being) and integration (Becoming)?

Practice 1: Personal Practice
Samyama on these points, energy patterns and the fields they generate when linked in energy flow: Samyama is the simultaneous practice of dharana, dhyana and samadhi as articulated in the the third chapter of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, the Vibhuti Pada. Dharana: bring your attention to the point, or energy flow between points. Dhyana: Stay there with discipline. When your attention wanders, bring it back (dharana). Samadhi: Remain there effortlessly. Stabilize the field by balancing yin and yang energies. (see below) This will take time. Eventually it gets easier and easier, but eventually distraction or fatigue comes. Begin again. This can be done in any yoga pose.

Practice 2: Practice in the Relational Field
Feel a heart-centered circle or sphere of energy surrounding the people you are interacting with. Bring in light. In a small group, feel the collective field, nurturing and being nurtured by the uniqueness of each and the communion of the whole. Out in public, expand your circle/sphere while sustaining a well defined/flexible self space.

First Seven Points:
1. Heart Center, at the back of the physical heart.

2. Center of perineum, known as the seat of the Yin.

3. Crown of skull, known as the seat of the Yang.

4 and 5: The two Kidney 1 or K-1 points located on the soles of the feet.

6 and 7: The two Pericardium 8, or P-8 points located in a similar place on the palms of the hands.

Polarity, Charge and Transformation:

The fundamental energy pattern in the cosmos involves polarity. For our studies here, we will call the poles yin and yang, or negative and positive, as in the poles of a magnet. In the slide to the right we see the stages of cell division and how creativity demands polarity. In the meta and anaphases, yin and yang, or the north and south poles separate move to opposite ends of the cell. A charge builds and the chromosomes are pulled in opposite directions. This is the ‘field’ of creativity that allows two cells to emerge from one.

The Taoist yin/yang symbol expresses the relation between the poles. First, they cannot be separated into pure yin and pure yang. The seed of the opposite is always present. Secondly, they listen and respond to each other and the outer demands of the moment. If more yin is required, yang yields: 50-50, can go to 99-1 and on forever in subtlety, and the reverse is also true. When exploring this in the asana and breathing practices, always look to feel to the yielding one. In a back bend, this is the forward bending energy and vice versa. In a twist, right and left are yin and yang. In breathing, yin and yang are the expanding and condensing, like the Hoberman sphere action.

Extraordinary Vessels:
In our microcosmic orbit meditation, we discover a similar pattern and field to cell division. The seat of the yin at the pelvic floor and the seat of the yang at the top of the skull act as the two poles. Yin energy grounds and roots us. It stores energy. Yang energy rises and expands. It acts, within the body and out in the world. Yin and yang are always seeking communication, integration and balance. We will use some of the extraordinary vessels to help imagine and trace the energy flow.

There are eight extraordinary vessels in Qi Gong/Chinese medicine that help integrate the flow of Qi in the body. We will use the four in the torso region in this session. The other four include legs and we will pick up in a later post.

The energy line of the front, the Conception vessel is yin. The energy line at the back, the Governing vessel is yang. If we stay in the median line, up the core from root to crown, we have the primary yin vessel know as the thrusting vessel. The forth, the Girdling Vessel we will see below wraps around the body at the pelvic region.

We add points in front and behind the heart center to root and crown to create a circle or oval shape we call the microcosmic orbit, as seen with the hula hoop below, which includes and helps integrate the governing and conception vessels. As the energy generated in the body begins to feel the patterns, the poles support and strengthen each other, building a stronger charge, and the heart center expands naturally. Meditation and asana practice support this when we begin to feel the circular energy flows and use imagination to help guide the flow.

When standing we begin to feel the links to the legs through K-1 and the hands at P-8. This is especially true in down dog, where the core Qi circulates out through hands and feet and back again. In your standing pose practice, stabilize the core and add the points on the hands and feet. Wake these points up though samyama.

Coming back to the core, notice that the microcosmic orbit circle divides the body into front and back, but allows movement in the sagittal or front to back plane, where back bending and forward bending actions take place. Experiment with both imagining energy flow up the front/down the back and up the back down the front circular patterns. Notice which feels better, and where in the body is there a response to the flow. You may feel various regions of the body expanding and opening, contracting away, or remaining neutral. Then try both at once, as a yin-yang relationship.

Start standing or sitting, and then explore simple forward and back bending actions such as coming in and out of uttanasana, or going back and forth between up and down dog. Wake up the K-1 points. As you go forward, down the front leads, so make sure the up the front is present and yielding, not collapsing. On coming into extension, down the back leads, so find the down the front for balance. It takes time and lots of practice to be able to balance the energies this way.

We can also imagine the circle, still centered in the heart and passing through crown and root chakras, only this time in the coronal plane, dividing the body into front and back, and allowing side bending or fish body action like trikonasana, parsvakonasana or anantasana. Try clockwise and counter clock wise directions, and then both at once in a yin/yang interplay, including hands and feet as well.

The third dimension brings the circle perpendicular to the first to, in what in Qi Gong i called the girdling vessel. This circuit in the transverse plane, does not run have a diameter running through the core, but brings stability to the other two circles that do. You can call this the hula hoop or tutu because this is the circle of rotational energy, which provides the stability to the vertical axis. The major region of stability centered in the navel region. It varies slightly from individual to individual, up or down, but is a felt center, known as the hara in Japanese. This is the center of gravity in the body and we might imagine that our original cell, the one from conception sits there. From there, all the other cells, tissues and organs expand out into the full human form. You can imagine two points just outside the body at the navel at the sides, one front and one back to create a circuit. Sustain the balance of flow in twisting poses by feeling the left twisting when leading to the right and vice versa.

Longitude and Latitude Lines of the Body:

We can now begin to relate our personal energy field to that of Mother Earth by seeing the lines, circles and planes of each. The 3 dimensions of the human body can be described the three planes, as mentioned above and seen to the right, as well as with the hula hoop. The sagittal plane divides the body into right and left. Movement in the sagittal plane includes forward and back bending, or sagittal flexion and extension. The coronal plane divides the body into front and back. Movement in this plane is lateral flexion and extension, or ‘fish body’. The transverse plane slices through the body perpendicular to the other two planes and allows rotational movement or twisting.

On Mother Earth we see these planes as Latitude and Longitude lines (they are actually circles!) Longitude circles run through the north and south poles and are all the same length. In the body, the perineum or seat of the yin is the south pole, the crown point, or seat of the yang is the north pole. More than just the sagittal and coronal planes, we now have volume by rotating these around the transverse plane. The transverse plane gives us latitude circles which vary in length; very small near the poles, longest at the equator.

Linking Patterns of Energy Points, Lines and Fields:

To help visualize the links between our own bio-energetic fields and the larger patterns of the Universe we can use the simple image of the gyroscope. First point to notice is the vertical line or central axis, our chakra line of ‘thrusting vessel’. Second is the circle that uses the axis as a diameter, our micro-cosmic orbit. The third is the perpendicular circle or disc, our ‘girdling vessel’ or tutu.

The gyroscope balances stability and mobility through rotation of the perpendicular disc around the axis and this basic principle appears on Mother Earth,

our Solar System,

and our home galaxy, the Milky Way. (This is actually another spiral galaxy seen for above, as we cannot get ‘outside’ the Milky Way to photograph it.)

If we compare these planes and lines to the gyroscope, we can begin to visualize the stabilizing possibilities of the human energy field when we can access the points, lines, circles and spatial volume. Imagination, intuition and direct experience through practice are the keys to awakening your own bio-energetic field and allowing it to align with the cosmic fields of mother earth, the sun and our home base, the Milky Way.

Good luck. Practice well.

(Thanks to Stacy for the hoop photos!)

May all beings be happy.
May all beings find inner peace.
May all beings be free from suffering.