Too much energy up in your chest or head and you'll get anxious, insomnia, etc. But put that energy down in the belly and it just makes your digestion stronger, endurance better, and helps you feel grounded!
Many qigong exercises address this balance by moving the feelings of warmth down to the lower body. In this exercise from the Seated Brocade Qigong (included in the 'Qigong for Deep Winter' course) the practitioner creates actual heat in the hands, and then places them on the lower back and imagines that the warmth fills the whole belly. Although it's an ancient exercise, I'm surprised to see how well its elements accord with modern understandings:
1. Warm hands are associated with relaxation. In stress, the body pulls circulation away from the extremities. By bringing awareness to the hands and physically warming them, we can help begin to reverse this cycle, similar to what's been shown in biofeedback training.
2. Awareness in the lower belly is known to help reduce anxiety, such as through deep abdominal breathing. Plus, this helps get you "out of your head", which many of us can feel immediately!
3. Long exhales have a relaxing effect on body and mind and actually slow down your heart rate and increase heart-rate variability.
The ancient masters didn't speak in terms of these scientific understandings when they designed the qigong forms, but it is amazing that something from pre-modern times can match up to what research now validates!
