This is a powerful Taoist mindfulness exercise that will take about ten minutes to complete. You should find it deeply calming and restorative. I call it “Energizing the Organs”.
Begin with the “Three Mindful Alignments“, aligning the three treasures of body, breath, and mind in the Tao. Feel the Earth below and the Sky above. In between Earth and Sky we lengthen the body and relax the muscles. Take a breath. If possible the breath is through the nose. Allow the breath to go deep into the body. Let the breath become slow, and even. Then look at the mind itself. Clear it of distracting thoughts and focus it on what the body is experiencing. The in and out of the breath is always a powerful focus point.
Bring your hands in front of the Lower Dantian and rub the hands together vigorously to warm them up. Place your mental focus at the center of your palms to intensify the effect. Then hold the hands palm facing palm, about 10 inches apart and engage your imagination to create the sensation of a ball of energy in between your hands. Maybe you feel spinning, pulsing, or a vibration in between the hands. Then, as we breathe in we allow the ball to expand. Exhaling we press it back together.
Our inhales are through the nose and the breath is drawn deep into the Lower Dantian. Our mind is calm and focused.
Do several repetitions of expanding and closing the ball and then warm up the hands once again.
Energizing the Liver
Place your hands, palm over palm, over the Liver and gallbladder which are located on the right side of the body. A few fingers should feel ribs the others will be feeling the upper abdomen. You can rub gently in a circular manner to call your mind’s attention to the area. Then imagine you’re beaming green light from the center of your palms energizing all the cells of the Liver. Every cell is getting stronger and increasing in functional ability as it absorbs the green light. The light itself gets clearer and more vivid with every breath.
Do this for several breaths.
When ready to move on, in your mind’s eye create a smile. Even allow that smile to come to your face. Connect the smile in your mind’s eye with the Liver. This reinforces our mind-body connection and expresses gratitude to our internal organs.
Energizing the Heart
Warm up the hands again. (optional)
Place the hands in the center of the chest, palm over palm. As you breathe, visualize red light beaming into the Heart. The Heart encompasses the entire cardiovascular system. Picture all the cells of the Heart absorbing the red light and getting stronger. The Heart has a strong beat. It is rhythmic and it pulses throughout our body. The light becomes more vivid and clearer with every breath.
Do this for several breaths.
When ready to move on, smile into the Heart with gratitude for all its hard work.
Energizing the Spleen/Pancreas
Warm up the hands by rubbing them together. (Optional)
Place the hands on the left side of the body over the Spleen/Pancreas. A few fingers will feel ribs, the others feeling the abdomen.
Breathe and visualize yellow light beaming from the center of the palms into the Spleen/Pancreas. This yellow like clay of the earth. Imagine all the cells of the Spleen/Pancreas absorbing that light and getting stronger as they do. The light itself becomes vivid and clear with every breath we take. The breath is deep and relaxed.
Do this for several breaths.
When ready to move on, smile into the Spleen/Pancreas to reinforce the mind-body connection and express gratitude to our organs.
Energizing the Lungs
Warm up the hands. (optional)
To energize the Lungs, cross hands and place them on either side of the chest with the finger tips near the collarbone. Imagine beaming white light from our palms into our Lungs. The Lungs are broad they go deep in the body. In Taoist medicine the Lungs are more than just the Lungs themselves. The Lungs it include the bronchi, the nasal passages, the sinuses, and even the pores of our skin. See all these cells absorbing the white light and becoming strong and increasing in functional ability. The light becoming clear and vivid with every breath we take. We feel our breath being drawn deep into the body.
Do this for several breaths.
And then express gratitude to Lungs with an inner smile.
Energizing the Kidneys
Warm up the hands. (optional)
Energizing the Kidneys requires reaching around to the back of the body if possible place the palms of your hands flat over the Kidneys. A few fingers should be feeling ribs and others the muscles of the upper part of the lower back. If it is not possible to have the palms against the Kidneys you can use the back of the hand.
Begin to beam blue light from the palms energizing the Kidneys. Every cell of the Kidney absorbing that light and increasing in functional ability. The blue light getting more vivid and clearer with every breath we take.
Do this for several breaths.
Then smile into the Kidneys. So much gratitude for our inner organs.
All together
Finally let the hands slide around to cover our Lower Dantian, palm over palm just below our belly button and take a moment to sit and relax and breathe. Feel the energies of the five organs, Liver – Heart – Spleen/Pancreas – Lungs – Kidneys, coursing through our bodies together. They reinforce each other maintain homeostasis.
Do this for several breaths.
Finally, just sit for a moment and enjoy the good feeling. Often, especially if doing this practice outside, I’ll gaze around the environment and note the five colors, green – red – yellow – white – blue as I spot them.
Fabulous Mark! Thank you soooo much for sending this practice. Hopefully, it will calm my anxiety at this time and help me sleep. It is 2:06 am now. And finally, I feel a bit relaxed.