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Dan Tien

What is Dan Tien?

In the ancient Chinese healing arts, through years of dedicated study and cultivation, practitioners discovered that there are 3 primary “tien”, or minds of the body. Each of these three tiens regulates different aspects of the functioning of the human system, as well as acts as catalysts in the progression of spiritual development for the practitioner.

 

The three tiens are basically translated as Lower dan Tien, Middle Dan Tien, and Upper Dan Tien. The tiens are both physical and energetic and share a physical manifestation within the body in which large clusters of nerves and neurological pathways can be found in the specified areas. Also, we commonly refer to these 3 “minds” without even realizing in sayings such as “gut feeling” and “feel from your heart,” or “what does your heart say?”

 

There is an enormous amount of information that can be found about these three centers, but it should be noted that a large portion of the information is shrouded in encrypted terminology, riddled proverbs, and coded instructions. Without a living master, most of the information would be useless, and understanding the true essence of the words would be very rare. Even then many would argue that to truly discover the nature of these centers, can only be achieved through consistent practice.

The 3 Dan Tiens

The Lower Dan Tien

The lower dan tien is located around 3 fingers width below the navel and 3 finger widths inside of the body. The nature of the lower dan Tien is that as well as governing the function of the lower limbs and purification/excretory system it acts as our bodies’ energy generating, and storing centre, very similar to a battery ( or capacitor to be more precise), and equivocally also has the potential to discharge Qi (energy) at lightning speed to any part of the physical or energetic body.

 

The Lower Dan Tien serves as the initial bridge between the physical and the spiritual, and between the lower vibrational energies into the higher. It is the centre where Qi is accumulated and/or in its very raw and unrefined state, often referred to as Jing, or “essence”, and also where we store what is referred to as our primordial qi, the unique energy that we come into this life with which is gifted to us by our parents and in turn their ancestors. This centre in its development brings stability, strength, inner peace, purity, and sense of grounding. The lower dan tien is related to the kidneys (especially ming meng point), the sexual organs, and the perineum.

The Middle Dan Tien

The middle Dan tien is located in the heart center generally located around the area of the physical solar plexus, in the center of the chest. The middle Dan Tien governs the functions and redistribution of qi to the upper limbs and the upper organs of the body.

 

The middle dan tien is directly related to the heart and respiratory system and is related in large with assimilating Qi from external sources such as the air that we breathe, or the food that we eat, and redirecting to the rest of the system. In many belief systems developed in conjunction with, or parallel to the Chinese Arts, it has been assumed that the heart and mind are not separate but are often simultaneously referred to as Chitta, or mind.

 

This is not to say that the brain does not play an integral part in the functioning of the mind, but more so that the heart may play a larger role than we give credit (and the same with the gut too!) It should be noted that in the study of neurocardiology, the study of the correlation between the heart and the brain, there has been substantial evidence showing that the heart and brain directly impact and affect the functioning and condition of each other. This is also the center in which we cultivate love and compassion, and so the means by which we connect with one another and the universe.

 

The middle dan tien functions as the bridge between the lower and upper dan tien, and so form a meeting point.

The Upper Dan Tien

The Upper Dan Tien is located in the middle of the forehead in between the two eyebrows, and in many traditions is commonly referred to as the Third Eye Chakra. The upper Dan Tien is the centre of intuition, inner vision, reason, and spiritual attainment. It is in this centre that a practitioner will experience many of the phenomena which are directly associated with higher levels of spiritual progression.

 

In ordinary life, we experience the prowess of the Upper Dan Tien in situations where we intuitively avoid danger or a tumultuous situation, where we somehow predict something which is yet to occur, or we catch a glimpse of truth beyond that which we are used to seeing. When this centre is balanced we will have clarity in our life, act and think with reason, and bring consciousness into our daily life.

 

The development of The upper Dan tien is often best not overly discussed or thought about as it is a natural process and if a practitioner puts too many expectations or desires into that it may disrupt the process and create imbalances. It is very important to note that in almost all of the Chinese Healing Arts, there is very less emphasis put on the Upper Dan Tien because it is much more important for the practitioner to develop the lower two dan tien to develop stability, harmony, and the inner balance prior to focusing on higher spiritual development.

 

In the same way that a house is built from the foundations, then the first floor, then the second and so on, we should build ourselves slowly over time from the ground up.

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