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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. |
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| 2. |
Gently tilt your pelvis forward… |
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| 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. |
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| 4. |
Keeping your knees over your toes, press
one hip forward… |
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| 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. |
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| 6. |
Still keeping your knees over your toes,
roll your pelvis in slow, full circles in one direction…then
in the other direction. |
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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.
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