Written October 2019
The beginning stages of the internal arts can be very difficult. One of the first hurdles is locating and working with the Lower Dantian, a subtle energy centre. Energetic practices like Nei Gong require patience, persistence, and diligent personal study in order to contact and work with subtle energetic substances such as Jing, Qi, and Shen.
With Daoism, there is also a learning of terminology that becomes quite important for specificity and understanding philosophical concepts that are hard to translate. The philosophy is experienced by the practitioner within the microcosm of their body and they come to know and define these terms through experience combined with theory, though this is also always evolving as one progresses.
One subject of prime importance in the early stages of Nei Gong is the Lower Dantian, often just referred to as “the Dantian”. There are multiple Dantian in the human energetic anatomy, but in the beginning we are primarily concerned with the Lower Dantian in the abdomen. This Dantian is called an “energy centre”, though simply it is a field of information. Students learn to locate and work directly with the Dantian in order to effect the energy system. Though finding a subtle energetic centre can be a tricky task. “What does it feel like? And where is it?” are common questions.
There are various ways to locate the Dantian, but I’ve found it’s helpful to think of it as an energetic limb. Much like your arm and hand, but existing mostly energetically rather than physically. The hand can rotate, fold, flex the fingers and form shapes depending on your dexterity with that limb. If you haven’t used your energetic limb much, then you won’t have much or any dexterity with it, and your mind won’t be familiar with it. Though luckily there are some clear signs when you manage to touch upon it. With internal sensitivity and good mind- body connection you may find it more easily, though diligent and persistent effort will get you there.
The analogy of the Dantian as an energetic limb can be very useful. Think about wiggling your ears or nostrils, two parts of the physical body that can be very difficult to feel! These areas of the body can seem impossible to move before you know how, but with time and diligent practice you can figure out how to move them. I personally learned how to wiggle my ears a while ago because I realized I couldn’t, and took on the challenge. I started with touching the ears to stimulate them and then getting my mind into that region, in time I found I could get my mind there more easily. Then as my mind spent time listening into this area, the ears came to life and I could move them a little. With time, a little became a lot and presto! The ears move no problem.. Now we can apply this same idea to the Dantian. Though we cannot rely on any physical touches, so we must use our mind to “touch” the Dantian.
Some sensory feedback to confirm touching and working with the Dantian are: localized heat (a lot of it!), an internal tugging in the abdominal tissues, buzzing/vibrating inside the abdomen, and other energetic phenomena. Remember that the more time your mind spends listening into the area of the Dantian, the more it will familiarize and be able to more quickly locate there. The mind is much like a radio tuning into the station of the Lower Dantian, which
is also the conversion centre of Jing to Qi. So, listen with your mind there and in time you’ll tune into the frequency of Qi.
This really is just the starting point of Nei Gong, as you find the Dantian is much like your hand. The Lower Dantian has some important functions in the human energy system, so we want to develop great dexterity of this energetic limb. Eventually it even learns to function and regulate on its own as this skill becomes a Gong, a quality built into the body. At this point, you will find that your Qi is actually the energetic limb…but we have to begin somewhere!
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