In my final weeks practicing meditation for my personal project, I decided to explore Chinese Qigong meditation. Qigong means “life energy cultivation” in Chinese. This kind of meditation is an exercise for both your body and mind, and is typically used for health, meditation, and martial arts training. It involves slow body movement, inner focus, and regulatory breathing. Qigong breathing methods can come in many forms. Different breathing techniques are specific to what the person wants to achieve; whether it be martial arts training, health, or meditation and spiritual cultivation.  I decided for my purposes it would be best to practice breathing to achieve meditation and spiritual cultivation.

The way to practice Qigong meditation is to start out by sitting in a comfortable position, making sure your body is centered . Relax all muscles, nerves, and inner organs when in your position of choice. Next, regulate the breath, making sure to be taking long and deep inhales, and soft exhales. While focusing on breathing, calm the mind so all thoughts are on the breath. After this is achieved, place all your attention to your lower dantian. Dantian is a word used in Daoist meditation referring to the energy centers and focal points for meditation exercises. In my exercise, I focused on the lower dantian, which is the area of the stomach below the bellybutton. The two other focal points are the middle dantian  which is at the level of the heart associated with strong spirit and health of internal organs. The second focal point is the upper dantian which is located at the forehead in between the eyebrows (the third eye), and is associated with refining the spirit into emptiness. The lower dantian, which is my focal point, is the center of gravity for the body. Focusing on this point will help build and solidify he qi. Qi is the vital energy, where my mind and energy is. By focusing my qi on the lower dantian, I am allowing my qi to flow through my body by gathering my energy in a natural reservoir.

I was intimidated by this kind of meditation because at first read it seems slightly intense and more advanced. It took me a couple days to really put these steps into effective action. Once I did, I felt more in tough with myself, and was able to center myself when stressed and increase my focus.