Energy Centre Breathing
In the various energy cultivation traditions, it was recognised that there are certain places in the body where energy is concentrated.
These sites were discovered to be very suitable as a focus for developing and refining energy capacity and flow in the body.
In the Taoist tradition, the energy centres of the body are called ‘tan tien’, literally translated as “cinnabar field”. Cinnabar is the crystalline form of mercury, and is associated in Taoist lore with immortality. Therefore a better translation of the term tan tien would be “immortality field” or ‘longevity field’, or “place where immortality/ longevity is cultivated”.
In the Yogic tradition, these energy centres were called chakra, meaning ‘wheel’, because it was perceived that these centres of energy were in constant motion, as spinning disks, receiving and transmitting energy to the rest of the body and being. They were regarded as transducers of spiritual energy to the body and could become warped or slowed down due to the presence of trauma or limiting beliefs.
Many different categorisations of energy centres were identified in the various branches of the Yogic tradition; however, according to the most commonly practiced tradition today, seven centres are focused on, each one associated with a different plexus – or nerve centre – within the physical body, and each one responsible for a distinct set of mental/emotional and physiological impulses. Yogic practice had as its goal the clarifying of those energy centres and the pathways that connect them, in order to maximise energy flow through the body.
How can different energy centre systems exist, with different systems recognising a different number of centres?
To answer this question, a musical analogy can be used. The musical analogy is a good one because, like any musical medium, the energy body is essentially in vibration. Just like in music, where there are different scales – some with 5 notes, some with 7 notes, some with 13 notes, etc. – with each different scale creating a distinctive “flavour” of sound, so too are there different ways of categorising the subdivisions of the energy body, with each different way producing a distinctive “flavour” of experience.
The concept of power centres within the physical body as a focus for meditation can be found in many traditions around the world, including the Buddhist, Ancient Greek, Sufi, Yoruba (Western Africa), Native American Indian, Mayan and Medieval Christian, to name a few.to name a few.[1]
Each of these systems uses a slightly different “scale”, so to speak, creating a distinctive kind of “music”.
In this section, we will cover some basic exercises to locate and work with these energy centres.
These foundational practices will help you build a strong connection with your internal energy system, setting the stage for deeper Qigong development.
[1] See Cyndi Dale, Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Chakras, Llewellyn, 2015, and Stefan Stenudd, Life Energy Encyclopedia at https://www.stenudd.com/lifeenergy/lifeenergy-beliefs/lifeenergy-A.htm. See also the Exercise Notes in Section 2, entitled “Comparison of Vital Energy Concepts Across Cultures”.
