Diamond Belt
My first encounter with Qi-Gong was in Beijing more than 24 years ago, when I visited China in search of authentic martial art styles and spiritual practices. I was standing at the “Temple of the Sun” with my arms hugging an imaginary tree and listening to the teacher’s words. I don’t remember much of the exercises we did then, but only recall an image that stuck with me. It was “diamond belt”. As I committed to a daily Qi-Gong practice the same year, the term crystallized. I realized that the “diamond belt” the teacher was referring to, was in fact mastering the four treasures in cultivating life force – the energies of Li, Jing, Qi and Shen.
I wonder why a lot of Qi-Gong practitioners and even teachers don’t emphasize the alchemy of cultivating a “diamond belt”. In order to achieve this brilliant shield we need to consider three different stages. Every time we venture into a Qi-Gong practice we are actually executing Li (physical movement) to tap “Shen” (mind spirit) and convert “Qi” (life force) into “Jing” (internal power). “Li” is the result of accumulated physical energy. Jing is the vibration power of converted Qi. Shen is respectively the mind source of fueling qi and allowing it to manifest as internal power. Of the Four Treasures, Jing and Li are the ones associated most closely with our physical body. The home of Jing is the lower “dantian” or the Kidney Organ System, and it includes the reproductive energy of the sperm and ova. Jing is considered to be the root of our Vitality, the physical substance out of which our life unfolds. Qi – life-force energy – is that which animates our bodies, which allows movement of all sorts: the movement of breath in and out of our lungs, the movement of blood through the vessels, the functioning of the various Organ Systems, etc. The home of Qi is the middle “dantian”, and it is associated in particular with the Liver and Spleen Organ Systems. If Jing is the wax and wick of a candle, then Qi is the candle flame – the energy produced via the transformation of the physical base. The fourth treasure is Shen, which is our Spirit or Mind (in its largest sense). The home of Shen is the upper “dantian,” and it is associated with the Heart Organ System.
Shen is the spiritual radiance that radiates through the eyes – the emanation of a universal loving-kindness, compassion, and enlightened power. If Jing and Li are the wax and wick of a candle, and Qi its flame, then Shen is the radiance given off by the flame – what allows it to actually be a source of light. And in the same way that the light from a candle depends upon the wax, wick and flame, so does healthy Shen depend upon the cultivation of Jing and Qi. It is only through the temple of a strong and balanced body that a radiant Spirit can shine.
In this process of harnessing universal energy and maintaining the continuous flow and movement of “Qi” we open the meridians (energy pathways), warding off any disease and keeping the body healthy by enlivening all organ systems and glands. As a result we let the body heal itself and boost overall vitality so we can shine with the luster and vigor of a diamond. And all this is achieved while keeping the mind calm and positive, and the body glowing and accepting. I have discovered through years of practice that both Qi Gong and Traditional Chinese Medicine operate from the quantum perspective that Qi controls or rules the body. Thus whatever is going on at the physical level is a direct reflection of what is going on with your Qi. It also tells a lot about your thoughts and beliefs, because what you think about yourself informs your Qi of what to do [or not do] with your body. Trough my daily Qi-Gong routine I have also unearthed some basic Qi-Gong principles that have allowed me to deepened my practice. When you settle in a state of conscious breath and movement you suddenly realize that “energy follows attention.” Where we place our awareness – our conscious attention – is where qi or life force will flow and gather. When Qi gathers we may notice sensations of warmth, or fullness, or a tingling or magnetic feeling, or a sense of heaviness in the fingers or palm. In the Hindu yoga systems this rule is rendered, with the Sanskrit terms, as: prana(life-force energy) follows citta (mind). Then breath becomes a conduit for linking energy & awareness. As we merge the life-force energy with awareness and cultivate our “body-mind”, the physical breath becomes (over years of practice) more and more subtle, until it is absorbed into what is called embryonic breathing. In embryonic breathing, we draw energetic sustenance directly into the body-mind, independently of the physical breathing process. In the same way that a fetus “breathes” through the umbilical cord, we’re able now to draw Qi directly from the universal matrix. As we refine the Qi-Gong practice we subtly balance and clarify the flow of Qi through the meridians. If we fail to digest experiences fully, we tend to block these nerve channels and create imprints in the body mind that lead to the coiling of beliefs around our essential nature, and to the aggrandizing of our ego – our veiled self.
My Qi-Gong practice has helped me untie these energetic knots, allowing energy-awareness to once again flow freely and create a luminous body strong as a diamond, in which the play of my bodily elements continuously unfolds. See where yours will take you…
Yogea Qi-Gong Practice: Diamond Belt
This is a selected Qi-Gong practice that combines a set of organic conscious breaths and movements derived from the five elements of water, wood, fire, metal and earth, and based on traditional Chinese Medicine, designed to balance the body’s systems of the kidneys, liver, heart, lungs and spleen. The practice will make your body strong and supple and improve balance, stamina and flexibility. It will stimulate the cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, endocrine, immune and central nervous systems. You will attain an optimistic and relaxed state of mind. The abundance of clarified energy and mental stillness generated by this flow will help bring mental clarity, and nourish both your intuition and creativity. You will learn how to internalize energy and let it sheath and regulate your body. As you invite the inside witness through the practice you will allow the third eye to gradually open and link you to more subtle realms of being, as you experience your connectedness to All-That-Is.
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