Meditation; Summoning Chi

Be Like Water: Practical Wisdom from the Martial Arts
By Joseph Cardillo

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Who has realized his true self
gains thereby understanding.
Who has gained understanding
finds thereby his true self.

- Tsesze

Standing loosely, relax yourself (remember, your mind must be relaxed for chi to grow). Imagine a small balloon. Now visualize it directly before you, just in front of your Lower Dan Tien-that space a few inches below your navel.

Position your hands so that they are actually holding the visualized balloon. Let yourself feel this.

Then vanish the skin of the balloon, still letting the air inside it (between your hands) maintain its shape. This is what your chi feels like. Hold it, circulating your hands around its perimeter. Try to increase your sensitivity to it. Feel the pressure it makes between your hands.

Now center; concentrate on your Lower Dan Tien. Keep your hands positioned there so that you can better direct your breath. Breathe deeply and smoothly. Regulate your breathing to a brisk ten-count. If a count of ten is too strenuous, try five or less until you can work your way up.

Hold your breath, also for a brisk ten-count, then slowly release it.

Draw your breath down to your Lower Dan Tien and feel the energy gathering there. Feel yourself drawing energy up from the earth. Let that energy also gather in your Lower Dan Tien. Likewise, let the energy of the cosmos enter through your Upper Dan Tien (the chakra point at the top of your head). Let it, too, flow and gather to where you are holding your hands.

Visualize the energy fl owing into you and your chi building below your hands. Use deep breathing to direct your chi any where you wish it to go within your body. Your hands can also help direct it if necessary. First, flick your fingers, to get your chi circulating. Then touch them to the location you are attempting to invigorate and strengthen, so that you create a target where you can direct your breath. Feel the clean, nutritious, and healing energy.

Speak to your body. Ask it what it needs in terms of physical, emotional, and spiritual nutrients. Imagine your body's answers as planes of color. Your job is to translate what the color means to you in terms of physical, emotional, and spiritual foods.

You can also focus on your inner voice speaking. Listen to your body's needs and use your chi to send it comfort, strength, and healing. Let your inner voice help you discover and select more effective ways of fueling your needs on a daily basis.

Your centered self is who you are at your deepest. Listen to that voice often. Think and act from a place of balance.

Advanced version. Hold your hands in front of you and visualize your chi flowing outward and gathering between your hands. The energy should feel similar to the skinless balloon. Let the energy stream outside your body. Feel its healing warmth on your skin. Enjoy it. Let it comfort and heal you.

More advanced version. Try moving chi without the use of your hands. Where the mind goes, your chi will go. Be creative; find even more ways to use chi to make yourself feel better, as well as enrich your interactions with others.

I encourage you to combine these techniques with movement-anything from walking to housework, office work, and outdoor work. Also, the smoother the movement, the more fluidly chi will travel through your body. Allow your cultivation of chi to put a luxuriant sense of well-being and strength into your daily routines. Feel the harmony.

Remember, there is only so much energy you can hold. Negative energy will empower your opponent. Vanish it. Positive energy nurtures us, heals us. Use it to help create the life you want. Let it empower you.

Resolutions: Summoning Chi

• Today, I will center myself and act from a place of balance.

• Today, I will open myself to the goodness of the Universe. I will remain aware that its energy is my energy and mine, its. I will be present to our moving and flowing together.

• Today, I will stay centered even in tense situations and watch as my stressors vaporize. I will enjoy the abundance of confidence I gain in myself.

• Today, I will look for opportunities to remember that with every breath, I take into my blood the power of the Universe-that with every breath, I must also give myself back.

• Today, I will give thanks to the Infinite for sharing with me the power to heal.

Copyright © 2003 by Joseph Cardillo

About the Author

Joseph Cardillo was born in Norwich, New York, a small town between Binghamton and Syracuse. "People always ask when I started to write. I have always enjoyed writing and the excitement of sharing the journey. When I was a pre-teen, I used to look forward to spending nights at my Italian grandmother's house for two prime reasons: her great Italian cooking, and I got to have my own bedroom where I would write stories and then make them into little books I'd keep in a dresser drawer there."