Heal yourself from the inside!
Dantian
Activate
Your
Health and the Dantian
The ‘Dantian’ refers to an energy centre in the lower abdomen, activating it is one of the main focuses in Taijiwuxigong practise as it can have a profound healing effect on the body.
An active Dantian has multiple functions that assist our bodily health, for example, it helps keep our abdomen staying warm and relaxed which greatly increases information flow between the upper and lower parts of the body, it also plays a vital role in the regulation of our nervous system while helping maintain a properly functioning digestive system and aiding the respiritory process.
Once vibrational force from the Dantian starts to travel up the spine it can greatly improve the exchange of body fluids in the spine. Accumulated waste products are then naturally removed and fresh nutrition can reach the spine. This then directly effects the bodies central nervous system.
A network of nerves run from the brain down the spine to the different organs carrying a continous supply of information in both directions that helps the body maintian a state of health. If the intervertebral spaces become narrowed due to daily postural habits the nerves become irritated and cause problems in the corresponding areas of the body or even the organs themselves.
So when the spine is realigned and the habitual posture corrected, the organs can carry out their natural functions more easily and also report to other areas of the body more effectively if they are in need of assitance.
The Dantian can also help the spines flexibility because it is the engine of spontaneous body movement. This spontaneous body movement can, gently and naturally, help the practitioner to stretch the back and opening the intervertebral spaces. Thereby helping to facilitate a more flexible spine which can greatly increase the quality of our life as it allows us to do many more activities without pain.
Then when the Dantian has become more active it starts to pump yuan qi (healthy qi) through the network of channels in the body (mei & meridians) helping to clear out old unhealthy energy in the body, releasing stagnation that can if left become one of the factors that cause poor health.
When fully active the Dantian can begin another stage of development and begin to rotate, this can lead to a far greater range of movement in the spine which can be very helpful within physically expressive fields like dance, music, sport and martial arts and even everyday tasks can become easier like getting out of bed, doing the ironing, gardening or even it just being generally easier to turn around.
What is the Dantian?
The Dantian is an energy centre in the body. There are three main Dantian that we concentrate on in Taijiwuxigong, the lower, middle and upper.
The lower dantian is initially the most important, as it can help to activate the rest of the system. It is located in the lower abdomen.
How can we activate the Dantian?
There are 3 different methods of activating the dantian in this system.
Using the bodies centre of gravity.
Using the breath
Through meditative concentration.
An active Dantian can help correct spinal missalignments.
Once activated the dantian can then be directed to help clear the rest of the network of channels.
Initially the dantian force will help to correct the spine by moving in the main channel of the back, this will then continue into the front channel and create a circulation.
Energy from the dantian can open the bodies energy channels.
The other main channels of the body are the central channel and the left and right channels. These move through the core of your body and pass through all the major organs. Once these channels become active the bodily flow of information can return to normal and you can become freer of the blockages that really affect your quality of life.
An interesting field for futher research
The medical field is increasingly becoming aware of the importance of exercise for curing illnesses and their symptoms. Nevertheless there are few that use the principle of bad body posture and problems with the spine to explain the symptoms. With help from Taijiwuxigong theory and its exercises, these problems can be treated and cured at their roots and help to give us back active control of our own health rather than having to rely on external advice or medicine.