The Secret to Relaxed Power

Learning to Cultivate Energy from the Hara is the Secret of Relaxed Power.

There is no force or strain, only the natural ability to react positively and to use the potential of the Mind and Body together.

The Master healers believed that an abundance of energy in the lower tanden makes it possible to utilize all the other forms of energy available to the human system. The tanden is housed in the hara. This energy center is a magnet for outside energy with a similar vibration. Thus it is very important to keep your hara open and energized.

The Taoists say, “where there is more, more is given.”

When the energy is insufficient or blocked in the area of the tanden we generally feel physical weakness, sort of half sick.

Sometimes you may find yourself being critical or judgmental toward yourself and toward others.

The Ki in the hara can be lost or blocked through excessive negativity, stress, too much daydreaming, too much talking and some types of sexual activity.

Keep in mind that some energy is replenished immediately through eating whole foods and deep breathing but this is not enough to keep the reserve of energy in the hara at its peak.

Recharging the battery, keeping your hara open and filled with energy can be done intentionally with the meditation practice you learned in lesson #3 but sometimes the reserves may be too low or you might be sick and are unable to sit upright.

If you’ve had a hectic day and are dead tired you can still harness the power of your hara. You can focus on your center and find relaxation while lying down in the ‘corpse pose’ and breathing through the whole body.

Lazy Meditation

Plan to do this tonight in bed before falling asleep. After a restless day, this may be the only way to bring the Mind and Body back to harmony.

Once you’re lying down, bring your mind’s eye into your gravity center around the belly area and extend your focus into your legs and feet.

Close your eyes. Take a deep, relaxed breath into your hara and hold for 5 seconds. As you slowly release your breath imagine yourself pleasantly exhaling through the soles of your feet.

Make sure your arms and legs are comfortably stretched out. Continue to breathe deeply into your belly area and exhale out through the soles of your feet.

The focus is to feel the resonance of your breath deep within your lower abdomen. On the exhale visualize your breath flowing smoothly down your body, through the legs and out through the bottom of your feet.

Keep your mind’s eye on the breath as it fills your abdomen moving inside your body through your sinus cavity into your throat, neck, heart, lungs, stomach, liver, intestines, kidneys and reproductive organs. Then hold the breath for 5 seconds and exhale to clear your system. Imagine your out-breath flowing down through your hips, thighs, calves and out through the soles of your feet.

When all the air is expelled from your lungs your next inhale will happen automatically. Fill your lungs with the in-breath again, visualize it moving through the neck, heart into your hara and internal organs and hold your breathe for 5 seconds and then exhale, sending the breath through the lower half of the body.

Do this for several minutes, feeling thoroughly relaxed, grounded and blissful. If you find yourself feeling sleepy then allow yourself to peacefully fall asleep.

This simple meditation can be done for years. The movement of the diaphragm stimulates the internal organs and other vital functions (circulation, digestion and the endocrine response), the body is oxygenated and the pH of blood is normalized.

Being in touch with our center gives us access to the source of authentic riches. We do not have to abandon our modern lives, meditate for several hours each day or search for a guru. The true route to health, happiness and success is in ourselves, it is housed deep within our hara in the tanden.

Once you have cultivated this relaxed power and are benefiting from it you can begin channeling the subtle energy, Ki, that flows through your body’s energy pathways, the meridians, and use it to help others.

In Lesson 5, I will explain how to Manipulate the Energy in an Acupuncture Point.