The Meaning of Hara

Stimulating Acupuncture Points is Based on Traditional Chinese Medicine.

However, the Tsubo-Stimulation Techniques that I have learned and developed in private practice and that I teach reflect the cultural background of the Japanese Martial Arts by emphasizing the importance of being connected with and moving energy from your vital center.

Stimulating acupuncture points should never come from muscular strength, but should come from the body weight in relation to gravity. Basically the practitioner should lean rather than push.

In order to do this correctly, you need to use your center of gravity, which is know as HARA. This is located in your belly. By using your hara you are using your whole body.

Think about this for one second: By using your hara you are accessing your whole body thus you are using the total power of your body.

Focusing Your Energy in the Hara Harmonizes the Body, Mind, Emotions and Spirit.

The best example of using the hara is seen in the world of martial arts. It is known that when throwing a punch, if you focus your mind and breath in the hara and pivot from your lower abdominal area, you will have your whole body weight and power behind that punch. This is the secret to harnessing unseen power.

Developing the skills to meditate and channel energy from your hara is essential for not only martial artist but also many eastern healing modalities. Incredible transformations occur when using the art of hara to stimulate a tsubo in daily life as well as in a healing session.

A beneficial byproduct of balancing your internal energies is a shift from acting on autopilot toward more desirable ways of treating your body and the world around you.

Using your hara requires you to originate all of your movements from your belly area. To be more specific–to move from a point just below the navel which is your body’s central pivot point. This point is called tanden (or dantian in Chinese).

Stimulating a tsubo with pressure is not enough to modify the flow of Ki, blood, and other fluids helping you harmonize the functional activities of your body. Stimulating a tsubo also requires the power of the Universe harnessed through your breath and by moving internal Ki through the hara.

So, whenever you stimulate a point on the body, you must check in with yourself to make sure that the movement is rooted in your lower hara.

You can do this by tracing the movement backwards; starting with your fingers and mindfully moving your awareness through your arms and into your shoulders until you reach you hara. It is in this way that you will feel when you are using force or pressure as opposed to your lower hara.

For example if you’re leaning on specific tsubos along someone’s leg and you realize that the movement is coming from your shoulders then you are going to have ineffective results.

Worse than being ineffective it may even create tension in the person that you are working on. It is through using your hara that you can ensure effective results.

It’s important to understand that the meaning of hara extends beyond the mechanical. To be rooted in your hara also illustrates your ability to achieve. In Japanese culture, diligent effort toward your goal reflects someone with a strong hara.

To have hara means to have the ability to get things done; to not shy away from the difficult and to overcome setbacks. When you are ‘coming from your hara’ whether in everyday life, in meditation or stimulating a tsubo, the meaning is that you are well grounded, strongly focused and fully engaged in the potential of the Mind and Body.

How do you develop power and focus in you hara? This is covered Lesson #3.