Taoist Qigong Exercise: Melting into Nothingness
This is a Taoist exercise of letting go of the physical body and melting into the energy of the universe. The Taoists believe this exercise calms the spirit, can reduce wrinkles be relaxing the skin, completely relax the organs and on a spiritual level bring you to new heights and understanding of the universe we live in. This exercise will help you sense and guide Qi on a more profound level.
Qigong Instructions:
Assume the common Zhan Zhuang stance of legs shoulder width apart. Touch the tongue to the roof of your mouth. Begin to screw the legs into the earth to root and to open the sacrum allowing it to drop naturally to the earth. Many people and even teachers make the mistake of “tucking in the tailbone”. This is an unnatural posture for the body as we have a natural curvature to the spine. If you repeatedly over time “tuck in the tailbone” you will distort the natural curvature and possibly create difficult spinal problems to overcome. I have even heard of a man who was told for years by his teacher to tuck in his tailbone until he eventually had to have corrective surgery to regain the curvature in his spine he lost. Thus, I cannot overemphasize the importance of opening the hips so the sacrum can naturally drop to the earth. This creates a grounding and further root as you feel your perineum’s natural pull towards the earth.
Now we want to build a proper structure so that the body holds itself up effortlessly. Gently spread out the toes and grab the ground with the toes using about 10% tension. This adds an even further root to the earth and also pulls up the Yong Quan point, which is the center of the foot, so the “bubbling spring” of Qi can start at the feet.
Feel the knees over the ankles.
Feel the hips over the knees.
Feel the vertebrae over the hips; each stacked one on top of the other.
Feel the head resting on top of the spine, delicately balancing.
Feel a string from heaven holding up the head from the Crown Point.
Feel the sacrum being pulled towards the earth.
This allows the spine to elongate naturally. The hands can be resting over the Dan Tian with the outside hand’s thumb touching the Lao Gong point of the inside hand (center of the palm). While the inside hand’s thumb is touching the large intestine point (squishy point between the thumb and the index finger). Think of this as connecting a battery as the positive and negative meet each other. This will help generate an electrical charge.
Now that your structure is created and the palms are over the Dan Tian begin to relax the body from the top down. When relaxing it is best to sink energy and to do this we go from the head to the feet. This is Yin, as opposed to Yang, when we raise energy, we move it up.
Melting the Body Into Nothingness
Breathing deeply through the nose, inhaling warm energy into the crown of the head. Fill that space with warm energy and imagine like ice, the muscles melting and the crown relaxing. Next move down to the eyes and face. Breathe in deeply into that area, filling it with warm Qi and then exhale through the nose relaxing the forehead, eyes, eye sockets, cheeks, jaw and even the back of the head. Now down the to neck and throat. Feeling the energy melting and sinking down to the shoulders and arms all the way out into the hands and fingers. Like a wave of relaxation moving down your chest and upper back. Moving down to your solar plexus and mid back, allowing those areas to melt. Work your way down to your stomach, kidneys and lower back. As you move towards your hips, relax your genitals, buttocks and hips. Feeling them open. Melting the energy down your thighs, calves and finally down to the feet. Letting go of the physical body. Keep breathing deep and now bring your mind to the navel, going deep inside the mysterious black hole.
You can focus on any area as long as you need. Take as many breaths as you need until that area starts to relax.
I highly recommend this exercise is only done after a complete Qigong workout such as the 5 Element Qigong, Bagua Organ Qigong or other related Qigong sets so that the body can completely relax. If not, you will only reach a superficial level of relaxation and Qi circulation.
If you are interested in experiencing this Qigong on a deeper level I recommend one of our upcoming events.
