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In the practice of Asian bodywork therapies, the key to health and healing
is the flow of life force through your body.
In Japanese, this vital force
is called ki; in Chinese, it's chi or qi. The origin of your
vitality—the life-energy battery situated within your body's center—is
your hara. The condition of your hara reflects your state of health. Receiving
the full benefit of your bodywork treatments means allowing your hara to
come alive: Allowing your belly to move with your breath. Noticing sensations,
images, and intuitions occurring within your belly. Activating the hip joints
that mobilize your belly. I
have struggled with belly abuse since I was a teenager. At thirty-four, I discovered
Qi Gong. But I cannot keep energy focused in my belly! My teacher (male) doesn't
understand my problem! —Margo Reaping
the healing power of hara means befriending, even loving, your belly. But…love
your belly? That's a daring act of self-validation. Love Your Belly? Western
culture brutalizes women, targeting our bellies with many kinds of violence, from
rape to unrealistic expectations regarding our body shape and size.
I
was chubby as a girl. My father would grab my belly and hold me by the roll of
flesh in his hand. He'd poke me in the belly as if I were the Pillsbury Doughboy.
Now I'm protective of this area. I know I'm cringing and contracting around it.
—Joan Many women—myself included—have
tried to flatten our bellies, hide them from sight. But when we make our bellies
rigid, we cut ourselves off from our source energy, our power to heal. This
culture bombards us with directives to belittle our bellies. But whatever shame
we feel, it isn't ours—it's culturally imposed.
As a bodyworker,
I often hear comments like "Please, massage the fat away," or "My
stomach feels dead." I hear about women's struggles to "conquer"
their bellies. —Paula The good news
is: We don't have to torture ourselves any longer. We can choose to value
the hara. We can ungirdle our bellies and let ourselves breathe, and feel.
We can honor and express the healing power that we already carry within us. Prize
Your Powerhouse Some words referring to the belly remind us it's the
source of our healing energy, the site of our soul-power. In English, "gut"
and "gutsy" refer both to the belly and to the soul-qualities of courage,
determination, instinctive knowing. "Trust your gut" affirms your
inner source of guidance. "You're a gutsy woman" recognizes you're drawing
on an inner source of strength. When
I come from my belly, my point of power, everything is easier and I can perform
better, in any aspect of my life. —Tricia Your
belly is your powerhouse, giving you the guts to live a life you love. What could
be more valuable? Claim Your Treasure As you honor and energize
your belly, you claim the treasure dwelling within your body's center. You activate
and access your hara's healing power. These
belly-energizing moves, the breathing, and the body awareness exercises have empowered
my Tai Chi and Chi Kung practice. They've helped me move gently and safely into
a healthier relationship with myself and the world around me. —Wendy The
following exercises, drawn from The Woman's Belly Book: Finding Your Treasure
Within, point the way: Notice
What You're Feeling No matter how skinny
or shapely your belly might be, viewing it with a critical eye will only make
you miserable. Change your focus. Shift from criticizing how your belly
looks to appreciating how it feels. Recognize that your "gut feelings"
convey your instincts for self-preservation. Yet the feelings stirring in
your belly may seem vague, even uncomfortable at times. You can put words to those
feelings, using images to name your belly sensations. - Consider these
categories:
colors, animals, flowers, fruits, fabrics, landscapes Add
your own categories to this list. - The sentence below contains
two blanks. Choose a category to fill in the first blank. Then fill in the second
blank with a specific example of that category, saying whatever picture or word
immediately comes to mind.
The way my belly
feels right now, if my belly were a (category) ____, it would be a (specific example)
____. For instance: The way my belly feels
right now, if my belly were a flower, it would be a red-orange tiger
lily. Centering
Breath Deep abdominal breathing recharges your hara.
- Give your belly room to breathe. Unhitch your waistband, loosen your belt,
unzip your zipper. Sit or stand comfortably. Or lie on your back with a pillow
under your knees to ease your lower back. Place your palms upon your lower abdomen.
- Notice what's happening underneath your hands. You might sense a
wave-like motion, your belly expanding away from your spine as you inhale and
then sinking back toward your spine as you exhale.
- If you
don't see or sense any movement, that's okay. You can jump-start the process by
actively pulling your belly in toward your spine as you exhale. Then release the
contraction and allow your belly to relax. As it expands naturally—you don't
need to push it outward—your belly draws the breath in, beginning the inhalation.
- Continue, keeping your mouth closed and allowing the breath to move
evenly in and out through your nose.
- Feel the gentle rhythm,
allowing your belly to expand and draw the breath in, then to sink back toward
your spine and send the breath out.
- Continue observing your
belly and your breathing for ten or more cycles of breath. How do you feel?
- Gradually return your attention to your whole body and to the present
moment.
Belly
Bowl Mobilizing your hip joints enhances
the circulation of energy to and from your hara. Practice five repetitions
in each direction, in concert with the Centering Breath:
| 1. | Taking
a wide stance, place your feet two to three feet apart, pointing your toes outward
at a comfortable angle. Keeping your knees unlocked, bend your knees directly
over your toes. Keep your weight evenly distributed on your feet. Place your hands
lightly on your hips. |  |
| 2. | Gently
tilt your pelvis forward… |  |
| 3. | ...then
tilt your pelvis backward; avoid overarching your lower back. Let your head and
neck move naturally toward and away from your chest as your pelvis tilts forward
and back. |  |
| 4. | Keeping
your knees over your toes, press one hip forward… |  |
| 5. | ...then
press your other hip forward. Notice how your knee moves further out over your
toes as the corresponding hip presses forward. Let your head and neck move naturally
from side to side as your hips alternate in pressing forward. |  |
| 6. | Still
keeping your knees over your toes, roll your pelvis in slow, full circles in one
direction…then in the other direction. | |
Breath and Image: Applying the Centering Breath, inhale
during one phase of the motion or one arc of the rotation, exhale during the other.
As you practice this move, sense how you're stirring the liquid light of your
sexual energy within the bowl that is your belly. Coming to stillness, rest
your palms over your belly center. Notice and feel whatever images and sensations
are occurring in your body. • Lisa
Sarasohn is a yoga and bodywork therapist, health educator, and Kripalu Yoga instructor
certified at the advanced level. Quotations are excerpts from participants' comments
in Lisa's "Honoring Your Belly" workshops and from letters written in
response to her related articles. The Honoring Your Belly project draws on the
inspiration of Masahira Oki's Zen Yoga Therapy, Matsumoto and Birch's Hara
Diagnosis, and Shizuto Masunaga's Meridian Exercises among other resources. This
article is adapted from The Woman's Belly Book:
Finding Your Treasure Within. |
