Welcome to this week’s edition of Spiritual Growth Monthly. I’m Kevin Schoeninger. It’s great to have you with us here at SGM!

Energizing Qi Exercises Video

This month, we’ve been exploring my Learn Qigong Meditation Program and I’ve been sharing the foundational principles and practices for effective Qigong Meditation practice. I’ve also shared some techniques that are not included in the program, which I teach in my in-person classes, such as the Standing Meditation called Lower Dantian Breathing.

This week, I’d like to share a movement sequence that I use to end my classes called “Energizing Qi Exercises.” This is a great way to give your whole body a self-massage. It loosens your muscles, limbers up your joints, and stimulates the smooth flow of Life Energy or “Qi” through all the meridians in your body.

In China, this sequence is known as the Shaolin Temple exercises and it is prescribed as a daily regimen to support health, immune response and longevity. It’s a phenomenal way to start your day with relaxed positive energy–and it just plain feels great!

The whole sequence takes about 11 minutes and I guide you through it in the video above.

Below are step-by-step instructions to guide practice on your own once you’ve watched the video.

Enjoy your practice!
Kevin

Energizing Qi Exercises
*Repeat each of these in multiples of 3 (3, 6, 9, or 18 times)

Smile and rub your hands vigorously together until they’re nice and warm.

Slowly rub your hands down over your face, allowing your face to absorb the warmth in your hands.

Run your fingertips over your scalp from front to back.

Pat your head from front to back—using your palms on the top of your head and fingertips down your neck.

Rub your earlobes between your first fingers and thumbs—three times on top from front to back, then, once down your lower earlobes.

Rub the spine bump (C7 vertebrae) at the base of your neck with your fingertips, with one hand, then the other.

Lightly close your fist and pat down your arm from your shoulder to your fingertips.

Turn your hips to swing your arms around your body, tapping the following points with lightly closed fists:
-fist the top of your shoulders and upper back
-then your upper chest and the base of your ribs in back
-then, the front and back of your waist

Pat down the front of your torso from your upper chest to your lower abdomen, alternating palms.

Smooth down that same line alternating palms.

Pat down the outsides of your legs, from hip sockets to just below the outside of your knees.

Place your palms on your lower back, bend your knees, lean forward, and pat your lower back.

Keep your palms on your lower back, raise up, and press your hips forward as you lean back.

Look forward and down, keeping your chin to your chest.

Pat down and up the back of your legs.

Pat down and up the front of your legs.

Place your palms on your kneecaps, with feet shoulder width, and rotate your knees inward.

Change directions and rotate your knees in the other direction.

Place your feet together and rotate your knees in one direction.

Rotate your knees in the other direction.

Rub the ball of one foot into the ground.

Circle your heel in one direction.

Circle your heel in the other direction.

Switch feet.

Rub the ball of the other foot into the ground.

Circle your heel in one direction.

Circle your heel in the other direction.

Take a hip-width or wider stance with feet parallel, squat down, inhale and gather qi by sweeping your arms down, up and around you, gathering energy overhead. Exhale and draw the energy down through the center of your body to your lower abdomen. Repeat two more times.

Take several slow deep breaths with your hands on your lower abdomen, gathering qi there.

Record the feeling of relaxation, energy, and awareness in every cell of your body, so you can remember and return to that feeling anywhere, anytime.

Smile and feel the inside of your body.

Well done!

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Welcome to this week’s edition of Spiritual Growth Monthly. I’m Kevin Schoeninger. It’s great to have you with us here at SGM!

Your Energetic Core

What if every thought you think, every emotion you feel, and every action you feel inspired to take is housed in a specific location in your body? What if your illnesses and self-sabotaging thoughts, feelings, and actions are the result of stored tensions and your health and empowered thoughts, feelings, and actions are the result of smooth energy flow through your body? What if you could learn to tune into your personal energy field to release the former and cultivate the later? That’s the inspiring insight provided by Qigong.

This month, we’re discussing material from my Learn Qigong Meditation program. We’ve talked about Qigong as a practice of cultivating life energy, reviewed some guiding principles, and explored the foundational practice unique to Qigong of Standing Meditation. In this Week’s Message, you’ll learn how qigong enables you to clear your personal energy field and activate inner guidance.

Two Inner Powers

Let’s begin with two inner powers you develop as you practice qigong. These powers are Field Awareness and Focal Awareness. Field Awareness is your ability to sense space and Focal Awareness is your ability to sense a specific area within that space.

Field awareness can be called background awareness and Focal Awareness can be called foreground awareness. When we focus on a specific point or path within the body, we are using Focal Awareness. When we sense the larger space within which these focal points exist, we are using Field Awareness.

From a practical point of view, what does this mean and why is it important?

Focal Awareness is your ability to concentrate on thoughts, feelings, sensations, or objects. It is used to pay attention, accomplish chosen tasks, and discern important information. In terms of health and healing, it is the ability to focus on an area in your body that needs attention and relate to it in a way that provides insight and energy for healing.

Field Awareness is diffuse. It is sensing the space around points of focus and taking in the whole field. Field Awareness releases tension, disperses stuck energy, and gives a feeling of wide spaciousness within which our pains and problems seem small and manageable. Field Awareness also taps into the collective wisdom available in the Universal Field of Consciousness to provide intuitive insight that exceeds what is available within the limits of focal awareness.

If this seems complex, simply realize that qigong cultivates both attentional abilities and allows you to move skillfully between them. In qigong, you learn to use these twin powers as needed. When you want to build more energy and awareness in an area, focus your attention there. When you want to release tension in an area, allow it to diffuse into the larger Field.

The primary areas we apply these two forms of attention to in qigong are energy centers and the pathways that connect them which are called meridians. There are also many accupoints along the meridians which serve as ideal spots to collect or disperse energy. Anywhere in your body that is tense or in pain is also a prime location to focus your attention and sense space to diffuse that tension or pain.

Three Primary Energy Centers & Central Channel

The Daoists, who are masters of subtle energy cultivation, work with three primary energy centers, each of which is associated with a certain energetic quality or frequency, and a central channel which runs through them. They call these the three dantians (pronounced "don-tee-en"), meaning "field of the elixir". The elixir produced by cultivating universal qi (“chee” or life energy) in the three dantians gives you health, peak performance, longevity, and spiritual enlightenment. Because of these profound effects you may also hear the dantians referred to as the Three Treasures.

For those of you who practice Core Energy Meditation, you’ll recognize these three dantians as the Body Center, Heart Center, and Mind Center which are connected by the Central Channel.

The lower dantian is located three finger-widths below the navel, in the lower abdomen (three-sevenths of the way from the front to the back of the body). The middle dantian is located in the center of the chest. The upper dantian is located in the center of the head at the intersection of energetic lines from the forehead, the crown-point, and the base of the skull.

These three elixir fields are developed within the body by focusing and diffusing attention within and around them. Concentrating attention on a specific location draws energy into an area, developing its capacity and providing insight, while diffusing attention through and around an area releases tension or excessive energetic buildup and provides a wider perspective that frees your mind and promotes smooth energy flow.

The three dantians are highly-beneficial places in which to store energy through concentration and from which to diffuse it and circulate it. They can also be used as checkpoints to evaluate the state of your mind and body. Each of the three dantians is associated with specific capacities. As you become sensitive to the quality of energy in these centers you can learn to read the state of your being by knowing what each center represents.

The lower dantian is the center of physical vitality. It is the center of gravity, grounding, stability, mobility, and balance for the body, as well as being the reservoir for jing (sexual energy). This energy is associated with the body and with your inherited DNA, health, vitality, and physical stamina. It is related to the element of water and to the reproductive organs and fluids. It is also the center for primary emotions such as trust, confidence, and personal power.

Concentration on the lower dantian develops your capacity for sensitivity and personal presence within the larger energetic field around you. Deep breathing is initiated in the lower dantian and you can cultivate the energy of this center by concentrated attention on Lower Dantian Breathing, which we practiced last week.

The middle dantian is the center of human feeling. It has purifying and relational functions. The energy here is associated with heart awareness, higher emotions, respiration (drawing qi or life energy from the environment), and the health of the internal organs. It is affiliated with more refined qualities of exchange with others in the world. The middle dantian integrates the energies of the lower and upper dantians into synergistic balance.

Opening and refining this energy center develops your capacity for love and compassion. Remember from our Weekly Messages on HeartMath that the energetic field of the heart is a powerful force for entraining body and mind. When you practice smiling from your heart you activate core heart feelings that synchronize and integrate the energetic field of your heart with that of your brain and body. This gives you a positive feeling of well-being.

The upper dantian is your mind center. It is associated with the entry of “shen” or high-frequency spiritual energy and with powers of mind and awareness, including attention, concentration, imagination, observation, and analytical intelligence. The upper dantian also works in conjunction with the other two dantians to regulate levels of tension and relaxation in the body.

Focus on the upper dantian clears your mind and facilitates the relaxation response, which slows heart rate and respiration while releasing muscle tension. The energy of the upper dantian is light and refined. In the upper dantian you may hear the eternal vibration of creation, the "OM." Listening to this internal sound has synchronizing and refining effects upon the brain and central nervous system.

Connecting the three dantians is the central channel. Think of the central channel as your energetic core. The central channel relates to spiritual awareness and to the intentional infusion of life energy from the Universal Field through your body as a whole.

The central channel runs from the perineum, between genitals and anus, up through the three dantians, to the crown point of your head. This channel can also be described as extending farther downward, connecting to earth energies, and upward, connecting to higher levels of consciousness. For the moment, we will focus on the channel as it is described within the body.

In my Learn Qigong Meditation Program, the sixth seated meditation is called “Three Dantians and the Central Channel.” Practicing this meditation is a great way to open the three primary energy centers and integrate them through the Central Channel. You do a similar practice in Core Energy Meditation.

What I would like to do in this Weekly Message is to introduce you to sensing these energy centers and feeling their connection with each other. Let’s take a few minutes to do that now.

INNER SENSING EXERCISE:

Find a comfortable seat in a quiet, private environment. Feel your feet firmly on the ground. Let your hands rest in your lap, palms up, one cupped in the other. Relax your lower abdomen, including your pelvic floor and perineum. Feel as if a heavy weight is attached to your tailbone, anchoring you into your seat. Imagine a string attached to the top of your head drawing your spine gently upright.

Allow your shoulders to relax down. Tuck your chin slightly and relax your jaw. Roll the tip of your tongue up to touch the roof of your mouth. Relax your forehead, soften your gaze, and lightly close your eyes.

Focus into your lower abdomen and become aware of your breathing there. Don’t try to make your breathing do anything in particular. Instead, simply notice the quality of your breath as it is, as if you are an outside observer. Become aware of the feeling of your abdomen. What is the overall feeling of the space there? Immerse yourself in the feeling of your abdominal cavity.

Sensing space activates your Field Awareness while feeling into specific areas within that space activates Focal Awareness. Feel the entire space of your abdomen in a diffuse way and see if any point within it grabs your attention. Do you feel any spot that is tense or painful? Does any point catch your attention? If so, focus into that point.

If a point grabs your attention, focus there, and bring a feeling of spaciousness into that point. If no particular point draws you to it, focus into a point in the center of your lower abdomen. Allow your focal point to diffuse into the surrounding Field. You may alternate back and forth between focus on the point and the surrounding Field, or you may focus into the point and bring a sense of spaciousness into and around this point. Experiment.

After you have spent some time sensing the energy in your lower abdomen, allow your attention to move upward. Imagine the Central Channel connecting your abdomen with your heart center and travel through that channel upward to the middle dantian. Center your awareness in your chest and upper back and sense this space as a whole.

Become aware of the feeling of this space. Are there any points of tension here? What is the overall feeling tone in this area? If there are any points of tension or pain, feel into these areas and allow them to diffuse into the larger space of your torso.

Now, focus into your heart at the same time as you maintain your awareness of the entire space of your chest and upper back. Combine your focal awareness of your heart with your awareness of the whole space of your upper torso.

After spending some time becoming aware of the middle dantian and its surrounding space, allow your attention to move upward through the central channel to the center of your brain.

Feel into the center of your brain and note the quality of the energy here. What do you feel when you focus into the center of your brain? Do you sense any tension here or in any part of your brain or head? What is the overall feeling in your head?

If there is any point of tension, pain, or unease focus into this point and allow it to diffuse into the surrounding space.

Now, become aware of the center of your brain simultaneously with the feeling of the entire space of your head. Hold both types of awareness at once so they merge into one unified experience.

Finally, feel your body as a whole from the inside. See if it’s possible to feel the entire space inside your skin. Feel your inner body as open, clear, spacious awareness. The feeling of spaciousness allows tension and pain to release, diffuse, and heal. As you release layers of tension held in your body, your inner body will become a reliable reference point of spacious clarity. Through daily qigong practice, you release long-held layers of tension and return to the feeling of relaxed, spacious clarity on a daily basis.

Once your inner body awareness becomes sufficiently clear, you can use it as a reliable source of information and guidance. You will immediately feel when tension comes into your inner space and be able to identify and clear it. You will sense the subtle movements of life energy within you and be able to follow these movements to express who you are and why you are here, now. You’ll be able to feel when your higher guidance is trying to tell you something through the felt sensations of your body and the inspirations that flow into your mind within this spacious clarity.

My suggestion for you this week is to spend some time practicing sensing and clearing the three dantians and your body as a whole.

Until next time,
Enjoy your practice!
Kevin

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Welcome to this week’s edition of Spiritual Growth Monthly. I’m Kevin Schoeninger. It’s great to have you with us here at SGM!

Qigong Standing Meditation

When you think of meditation you may imagine sitting still, breathing deeply, and consciously relaxing for the purpose of releasing stress and finding your calm center. That’s certainly a powerful practice and one I highly recommend. In Qigong Meditation this is just part of the process—and there is so much more. Did you know that you can use meditation to boost your vital energy and confidence?

Qigong Standing Meditation is a simple, yet powerful way to do this in just minutes. In Qigong, still Standing Meditation is the foundation of empowered movement as well as the ability to reach deeper states of inner stillness in seated meditation. It builds a feeling of grounded strength in your legs, increases your storage of vital energy, and facilitates smooth energy flow through your whole body—which feels awesome!

Today, we’re going to practice a simple version of Standing Meditation called “Lower Dantian Breathing.” The Lower Dantian (“dahn-tee-en”) is the energetic center of your physical vitality, located in the center of your lower abdomen. Imagining breathing into and out from this vital energy center increases the storage of vital energy and gives you a feeling of relaxed confidence and empowerment. Energy stored in the lower dantian also boosts your feelings of vitality and supports optimal immune function.

After 10 minutes of Standing Meditation, we’ll move into an easy movement called “Shaking Your Body” in which you will bounce up and down on the balls of your feet, while allowing your shoulders, arms, hands, and hips to hang loosely, like a Rag Doll. This is a phenomenal exercise to promote circulation, release tension, and fill you with a whole-body sensation of positive energy, lightness, and ease. I think you’ll love the way this feels!

Personally, I do Standing Meditation and Shake Your Body first thing every morning before my seated meditation practice. It wakes me up and leaves me feeling deeply relaxed and energized at the same time.

When you are ready to give it a try, you can follow along with the guided audio. It will lead you through Standing Meditation and Shaking Your Body for a total practice time of 15 minutes.
I look forward to hearing how this feels to you in our Discussion below.

Enjoy your practice!
Kevin

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Welcome to this week’s edition of Spiritual Growth Monthly. I’m Kevin Schoeninger. It’s great to have you with us here at SGM!

Ancient Chinese Subtle Energy Arts

Would you like to learn simple, time-tested techniques to instantly relax your body, clear your mind, and boost your mood, energy, and immune function?

This month, our Weekly Messages focus on information from my Learn Qigong Meditation Program. As far as I am concerned qigong (“chee-gung”) is the most powerful transformational tool that I have ever found. This is why I have spent the past 32 years researching, studying, teaching, and practicing qigong as the foundation of my own daily practice.

The Learn Qigong Meditation Program (LQM) is a step-by-step, eight-week, home study course that takes you through a progression of safe and effective qigong meditation instruction. LQM includes a thorough introduction to qigong, detailed instructions of the eight meditations, and guided audio that leads you through each practice.

If you are interested in purchasing this program, check it out on the webpage: http://www.qigongmeditationsecrets.com

In our Weekly Messages this month, I will introduce you to the theory and benefits of qigong as well as lead you through some foundational qigong practices. I’ll also share two qigong practices that are not included in the program. These are techniques you can use to instantly relax your body, clear your mind, and boost your mood, energy, and immune function. They are a great complement to the meditations in the LQM program as well as phenomenal practices to do on their own. You can use Qigong techniques to enhance and deepen any other spiritual and health practices you follow as well. At the end of this week’s message, I’ll guide you through a simple active relaxation technique from Qigong to fill you with lightness, ease, and relaxation.

What is Qigong?

Let’s begin with a brief history, theory, and principles of qigong, so you can understand how it works and how to get the most from your practice.

Qigong Master Kenneth Cohen translates qigong as “working with life energy, learning how to control the flow and distribution of qi to improve the health and harmony of mind and body” (The Way of Qigong, New York: Ballantine Books, 1997, p.3).

Such practices have been prevalent in China for 2000-3000 years. The term qigong in the sense we are using it, the practice of cultivating and refining qi, is a relatively new usage. In ancient China, these exercises were commonly called “dao-yin” which Cohen translates as “leading and guiding the energy” (The Way of Qigong, p. 13).

The grandfather of Chinese Daoist philosophy, Lao Zi (or Lao Tzu), describes dao-yin practice in his Dao De Jing (or Tao Teh Ching) written in the third and fourth centuries B.C. The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine recommended dao-yin exercises in the first and second century B.C. to cure colds and fevers, to attain tranquility, and to cultivate vital energy.

A folded piece of silk from the second century B.C., called the Dao-yin Tu, shows four rows of painted figures representing “all major categories of modern qigong: breathing, stances, movement, and self-massage from standing, seated, and supine positions. . .Of great interest are the captions that name specific disorders, such as kidney disease, flatulence, painful knees, lumbago, rheumatism, gastric disturbance, and anxiety, suggesting that by 168 B.C. specific exercises were used to treat specific illnesses” (The Way of Qigong, p. 18).

Today, according to Qigong Master Tianyou Hao, there are over 35,000 different forms of qigong exercises. Master Hao says that “A Qigong form is a specific mental and/or physical exercise or coordination of a series of exercises all prescribed to train, develop and condition the mind and body for the purpose of health, healing, longevity, and opening wisdom” (from Master Tianyou Hao’s Qigong Meditation Instructor Training Course).

Qigong includes still standing and seated forms and movement forms, which are similar to T’ai Chi. In most Qigong systems still meditation is used to cultivate the mind, tune into the energy field of the body, and release mental-emotional-physical tensions and movement forms are used to limber up the body and improve energy flow.

SPECIFIC BENEFITS OF QIGONG:

1. Reduces stress and creates vitality in your body. Qigong meditation relaxes tension, improves blood and lymphatic flow, improves nerve conductivity, positively affects brain waves, brain coherence, and brain chemistry, enhances the efficiency of all physiological systems, and increases immune response and longevity.

2. Balances your emotions and opens your heart. Qigong releases emotional holding patterns and opens appropriate emotional responsiveness.

3. Focuses, clears, and expands your mind. Qigong is a great meditation system for active minds. It develops your ability to focus your attention, release from negative mindsets, and observe yourself with calm detachment.

4. Develops spiritual empowerment. Qigong enhances your spiritual awareness by producing a feeling of wholeness and integrity with the Oneness of Life. It improves your ability to sense, cultivate, and refine the Universal Lifeforce within you. Qigong empowers you to actively participate in creating the life you desire by developing your inner guidance system.

Although there are so many forms of qigong, the underlying theory, energetic anatomy, and principles of practice are common across most forms. The system taught in my Learn Qigong Meditation Program is a complete system of meditative qigong, along with some simple movements to release tension and increase energy flow. Meditative qigong is called jing gong or quiet form (with standing and seated versions). This is in contrast to moving qigong forms, such as Taiji (or T’ai chi), which use bodily movement to mobilize qi.

The emphasis in meditative qigong is the development of mind and spirit through the calm entrainment of body and emotion. This is accomplished by using your mind to relax your body, adjust your emotional attitude, and lead qi along specific pathways through your body.

Qigong meditation develops your ability to feel qi, build and store qi, and circulate qi smoothly throughout the body. The effects of meditative qigong are holistic: they positively affect all four levels of your being. The smooth flow of qi is the key to physical health, emotional balance, mental clarity, and spiritual integration. Cultivating awareness of qi flow is a profound path of personal and spiritual growth.

As I describe Qigong, I’ll use the terms “Qi,” “Universal Qi,” and “Universal Lifeforce” interchangeably. These all attempt to describe the “subtle energy” which is the Source of all life. While there are different aspects of this Universal Energy, for our purposes this month on SGM, we aren’t going to get hung up on subtle distinctions. We’ll focus on what you need to know to have an effective Qigong practice. Mindful attention to your experiences in your personal practice are your best teacher.

BASIC QIGONG THEORY:

Qigong is a truly holistic philosophy and system of health care and self-development.

The primary principle of qigong practice is this:

"Where qi flows smoothly there is health, happiness, and well-being.
Where qi flow is impeded, there is disease, distress, and conflict."

Smooth qi flow is regarded as a natural state of being. This natural state is affected by your responses to the demands of life. When you become sick or have dis-ease on any level of your being the questions in this system are:

1) Where is qi flow impeded?

2) What is impeding smooth qi flow? and

3) How do you facilitate smooth qi flow?

Qi flow is interrupted by the way you handle internal and external stressors. Qi can be impeded by physical tension, emotional holding patterns, rigid thought patterns, and patterns of spiritual resignation (which happens when you are not living in alignment with your life purpose). The more general pattern which causes impeded qi flow is experiencing yourself as a passive victim of circumstances that cause the conditions of your life. By contrast, in qigong you learn to experience yourself as an empowered participant in your healthcare and a co-creator of what happens in your life.

This leads us to a second qigong principle:

"The mind leads the qi and the qi follows the mind."

The term “mind” here means mental powers and spiritual intent. In qigong, you learn to use powers of mind and spirit to feel, gather, store, cultivate, refine, and circulate the Universal Energy which is the source of your life. The circulation of qi leads the circulation of blood, lymphatic fluid, and nerve impulses along their respective pathways, which leads to better health and feelings of well-being.
You lead qi in qigong meditation by following these cues:

1) Relaxing and aligning your posture,

2) Smiling and breathing consciously,

3) Visualizing qi pathways, and

4) Imagining and feeling Universal Energy flowing smoothly along these pathways.

One further note on this principle: It may be more accurate to say you “allow” qi to flow smoothly rather than you “lead” it, because smooth qi flow is natural. You allow this natural process to occur when you stop restricting it. When you live in a state of constant stress you restrict qi flow. When you center your awareness in Universal Qi, you allow a greater wisdom to work through you. You let go of trying to tightly control life and allow higher powers of mind and spirit to come forth. “Letting go” leads to the next qigong principle.

The third basic principle of qigong is active relaxation.

The ability to actively relax is the first step toward a qigong state (a state of relaxed, mindful attention). When practicing, Master Tianyou Hao says “Don’t forget, don’t pursue.” In other words, in qigong you are present and aware while being relaxed and calm. You learn to detach from your patterns of stress, so you can recover the original joy and vitality which resides steadfastly ever-available at the core of your being.

What does smooth qi flow feel like? Most commonly the positive feelings of smooth qi flow are warmth, fullness, tingling, and a sense of overall happiness and well-being. Many people who begin qigong meditation tell me that they didn't know that they could feel so good!

A simple active relaxation practice

If you would, take a moment with me right now to experience a brief entry into Qigong.

First, sit comfortably upright with the soles of your feet firmly on the ground.

Check in with the felt sensations inside your body. The ability to feel inner sensations is called “interoception” and it is the foundational skill in Qigong.

To practice interoception, imagine a string attached to the top of your head, drawing your spine gently upright. Relax your shoulders down. Soften your gaze so your eyelids slightly close. Soften and relax your forehead, your eyebrows, your eyes, your jaw, and your tongue.

Relax and soften your hands, your lower abdomen, your pelvic floor, and your perineum.

Relax and soften your feet and imagine as if the entire surface of both feet is melting down into the ground.

Take a deep in-breath, imagining as if your whole body is filling up with your breath and then breathe out completely with a deep sigh: “Ahhhh.” Do this two more times, imagining you are releasing any tension from your body in your out-breath.

Now feel your body as a whole from the inside. Allow a feeling of lightness, ease, and relaxation to spread out through your whole body, infusing every cell. Smile as you appreciate the felt sensation of lightness, ease, and relaxation.

How do you feel?

My suggestion for you this week is to pause to check in with the sensations inside your body several times daily. See if you can do this non-judgmentally, just noticing what you feel. Begin to use your inner body as a reference point for getting to know yourself better. If you like, you can use the cues above to bring relaxation into your body whenever you need.

I would love to hear your questions, comments, and experiences in our Discussion below.

Until next time,
Enjoy your practice!
Kevin

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Welcome to this week’s edition of Spiritual Growth Monthly. I’m Kevin Schoeninger. It’s great to have you with us here at SGM!

Breathing Meditation

This week, we wrap up our month exploring the Science of Breath with a guided meditation called “Present Moment Breath Awareness.” This meditation cultivates the “fourth seat of consciousness” in the center of your lower abdomen, called the “lower dantian” in Qigong Meditation practice. (You can learn more about all four seats of consciousness in my book, “Clear Quiet Mind: 4 Simple Steps to Deep Inner Peace,” which is available on Amazon.)

In a nutshell, a Seat of Consciousness is a vantage point which gives you a certain perspective. It is a place you can focus your attention to have specific experiences. Different Seats of Consciousness are conducive to different types of experiences. The fourth seat of consciousness, which we are using in this week’s meditation, is a great place to go when you want to get out of your head, relax, release stress, be more present, and discern the inner guidance available in body sensations. In the following meditation, we’ll use conscious breathing and attention placed in the lower abdomen to tap into these experiences.

When you are ready, you can follow along with the guided audio above.
The meditation script is included below for your reference.

Enjoy your practice!
Kevin

Present Moment Breath Awareness
Meditation Script

You can use this meditation to cultivate the fourth seat of consciousness in the center of your lower abdomen. This is a great place to go when you want to get out of your head, relax, release stress, be more present, and discern the inner guidance available in body sensations.

Now, if you will, please join me in sitting comfortably upright, with the soles of your feet flat on the floor and parallel with each other. Rest your hands palms up and open on your legs. This position naturally opens your Lung meridians, which run from points in your upper outer chest down the insides of both arms to your thumbs. Resting your hands in this position facilitates open, full, relaxed breathing.

Now, focus on the sensations inside your body. Scan your body and notice if you feel any tensions or pains. Just make note of the sensations without trying to fix them or do anything about them. Go ahead and notice any body sensations for a few moments now. . . .
Now, become aware of the sensations of breathing inside your body. . . .

You may notice the air entering your nostrils, moving up through the bridge of your nose, moving inside your sinus cavity in the middle of your head, through the back of your mouth, down your throat, and into your lungs. You may notice the expansion of your abdomen and/or your chest as you inhale and the relaxation of your chest and abdomen as you exhale. . . .

Just notice the most prominent sensations of breathing. . . .

You may find yourself wanting to focus on one of these sensations or on the whole chain of them in sequence. Allow your mind to rest on any sensations that draw your attention. See if it’s possible to simply be aware of how your breathing presents itself, without trying to feel anything specific and without trying to make anything happen. Just pay attention and notice any sensations of breathing. . . .

Now, see if you can notice the moment you begin to inhale and follow your whole in-breath until it naturally pauses. Then, notice the moment you begin to exhale and follow your out-breath until it naturally pauses. See if it’s possible to stay present with the whole cycle of breathing—in and out, in and out. . . .

See if you can maintain an attitude of “waiting on your breath” and “following it”—just as it is.

If you notice your mind has wandered, it’s OK. When you recognize this, simply notice it, and return to following the cycles of breathing again. . . .

If you find it challenging to stay present with your breathing, you may want to use an anchoring word or phrase. For example, you can mentally repeat “Breathe In” as you focus on the sensations of inhaling and the words “Breathe Out” as you focus on the sensations of exhaling.

As you continue practicing Present Moment Breath Awareness, let’s experiment with another wonderful anchor for full, deep breathing. Focus your attention on the area just below your navel in the center of your lower abdomen. This is called the lower dantian (dahn-tee-en) in Qigong practice. It is the center of your physical vitality.

You can imagine the lower dantian as a radiant sphere of energy. As you breathe in, imagine and feel the lower dantian sphere expanding and filling up. As you exhale, imagine and feel the lower dantian sphere relaxing inward and emptying out.

The lower dantian is such a powerful focal point for breathing meditation that you can use it as a Fourth Seat of Consciousness. It is a great place to sit when you need to let go of stress, get out of your head, relax deeply into the present moment, and restore your energy.

To practice sitting in this Fourth Seat of Consciousness, you can place your hands on your lower abdomen and imagine sitting in a comfortable chair in the center of your lower abdomen. Imagine you are holding the lower dantian sphere in your lap as you sit in this chair. Feel the lower dantian sphere expand and fill up as you inhale and relax inward and empty out as you exhale. . . .

Continue with Present Moment Breath Awareness now, with your hands on your lower abdomen, sitting in the Fourth Seat of Consciousness, holding the lower dantian sphere, imagining it filling up as you inhale and emptying out as you exhale.

To deepen the meaning and significance of your practice, you might imagine and feel that you’re welcoming the Universal Life-force into the lower dantian sphere as you inhale and imagine that you are breathing out feelings of appreciation and gratitude for this gift of life as you exhale. Observe the natural ebb and flow of your breathing—and become aware of how this rhythm mirrors the natural receiving and giving which is the essence of life.

In this way, your breathing practice takes on a whole new layer of sacred purpose. It attunes you to the flow of Life Energy into and through you. You experience yourself as part of One Life, One Breath that we all share. All beings everywhere have breathed in this same Breath of Life as you are breathing now. In fact, countless beings have breathed in and out these same molecules of oxygen that you are breathing now. We are all breathing together.

Continue to enjoy the sensations of breathing for as long as you like. . . .

When you are ready to finish, check in with your whole body and notice how you feel.

Do you feel any differently than before you began? How about the areas of tension or pain? Has there been any shift in these sensations?

Slowly open your eyes and take in the space around you. Take the feeling of relaxed presence with you into your life. Return to present moment breath awareness any time you need to get out of your head, release stress, and be more present in your body.

Well done!