Flowing River Acupuncture

Fire School Meditation

The Taoist fire school of meditation may be considered the yang to the yin of the water school. The yang school is active and creative, its starts from the underlying premise that we can create the right conditions for enlightenment, or the change in perception which is often categorised as enlightenment. 

The key word here is creative, the fire school looks to create enlightenment through certain meditative practices. At first these most often centre around the small heavenly circle or the microcosmic orbit, please see the diagram opposite. within this practice Qi is moved from the Dan Tian just below the navel and guided up the spine to the top of the head along the Du or Governor channel. From here the Qi is guided down the front of the body following the Ren or Conception channel.  This form of meditation is extremely popular among Qi Gong and Tai Chi practitioners and practice can lead to other techniques such as the large circle or macrocosmic orbit. As a rule this style is quite popular in the West and has a number of health benefits. 

To understand the health benefits we need to take a closer look at the Du and Ren channels. Within classical acupuncture the Du is often referred to as the Sea of Yang, the Ren channel as the Sea of Yin. In a practical sense this means all the Yang channels or meridians in the body connect to the Du, and all the yin meridians connect with the Ren. Think of these two channels like a reservoir keeping the smaller rivers balanced and flowing. Working with the Du and Ren channels is a simple and effective way to nourish all the channels in the body. When we add to this an alert peaceful mind and deep gentle breathing we have a very effective meditation for general health and well being. 

Over time the gathering and circulation of Qi through the Du and Ren channels will happen naturally. It will begin to circulate by itself without any conscious intention. At this stage we are practicing Qi Gong all day, and these skills can be easily directed into other arts such as tai chi and Qi Gong.