I'm new to this board and it seemed like the best place to start with my question. Firstly, I've been practicing yin yoga for two years but my first teacher had a background strongly influenced by TCM and shiatsu. I am a shiatsu therapist and therefore really into the therapeutics of yin yoga and also using daoist language in my teaching.
Does anyone have any experience or understanding of yoga practices and dantian? It corresponds to manipura chakra but there is also considered a lower (hara), middle (solar plexus) and upper (third eye) dantian. Basically I'm really keen to get a better understanding of working with asana/pranayama and meditation focusing on dantian. Any links, ideas, experience would be lovely. I suppose it could be just like working with the chakras at these locations but working with building qi at the energy centre is of most interest.
I did some research several months ago that led me to believe that the kanda is the Yogic equivalent to the Taoist tantien. You can see the result of my research on my blog post here: The Kanda.
My advice is to just sit in a comfortable position and gently rest your attention on your lower tantien. Most of the authentic Taoist yoga I've been exposed to tends to feel that the upper two tantiens will more or less take care of themselves naturally when attention is kept in a relaxed but active manner in the lower tantien.
Actually, an even simpler approach is just simply zuowang, "sitting and forgetting", where no specific object is taken for meditation. One just sits without a concept of why they are sitting or what to do. I honestly tend to prefer zuowang, though at times I am drawn to explore various, typically spontaneous forms of qigong and yoga.
Sean, thanks for the link to your research on the kanda. That was useful.
I think Island Yogini's question also concerned the other areas as well as the kanda. As you point out, the kanda, or "bulb" is often tought to be right below the perineum or tailbone. The dantiens however are in three locations. While the kandastana is thought to be located near the naval, and the source of all the nadis, it too is just in one area.
The only writings I have come across that attempts to link these areas found in the Daoist philosophy and the Yogic practices are in Dr Motoyama's books. In his "Theories of the Chakra: Bridge to Higher Consciousness" he links the three areas of the Triple Heater to three of the five Pranas: The upper heater, which is located in the chest and regions above this (the upper dantiens?) corresponds to the upward lifting energy of Prana. The middle heater, which is located between the diaphragm and the navel corresponds to Samana. Finally the lower heater, operating in areas below the navel, corresponds to Apana.
What is not clear to me is whether the three areas of the Triple Heater corresponds to the three dantien areas. But in Island Yogini's original post she was curious to investigate how to use Yogic techniques, like pranayama to stimulate these areas.
This book of Dr Motoyama is great for describing the links between the Daoist and Yogic views, and he does offer some practical advise on how to work these areas. Check out the Pawanmuktasana descriptions there, or you can find them in YinSights. In his other books he offer more suggestions. I would recommend his book "Awakening of the Chakras and Emancipation" to help really understand how these areas work.
Finally, hopefully soon, Paul Grilley's latest DVD will be ready: it is all about the Chakras and what he has learned from Dr Motoyama and others. There is going to be lots of good stuff there for us.
Just wanted to add that in Paul Grilley's book on p. 95 he links the Dan T'ien quite directly to the Svadhistana (sp) chakra.
As Sarah Powers and Dr. Motoyama explain, the translation of this chakra is "one's own abode," so it makes sense (to me, anyway) that it would be similar to the Dan T'ien, which is the primary source of chi in the body.
That said, Sarah Powers says somewhere that the manipura chakra is the main vortex for kidney chi, so I think it is a gray area.
hi there.this is raffaele a qigong instructor.on regards to your question regarding dantien here is my view.
dantien is a term used both in tcm and in qigong.the dantien has the following functions:regulates qi.reinforce primordial qi,regulates qi in the vessels and the blood.keeping our attention on the abdominal dantian can concentrate the mind,remove distracting thoughts and induce inner quite.
regards
raffaele