Dantian-Dāntián

MayaJourney                                                                  Spanish

Dāntián – dan tien – tan t’ien – dāntián – tanden – danjeon – Dan T’ien

Dāntián has been translated as the elixir field or the sea of Qi, the energy centers where the "elixir of life" or "energy center" flows.

These important Dāntián imaginary points are used for meditation, exercise, QiGong, martial arts, T'ai Chi Chuan and traditional Chinese medicine. Neidan, Neigong, Tao Yin, Taoists sexual practices, Reiki, etc., also utilize the three Dāntián points.  Sometimes referred as Chakras. 

Laozi zhongjing 老子中經, 3rd century CE, described the Dāntián as the elixir-of-life field where "essence" and "spirit" are stored, related to regeneration and sexual energy, menstruation and semen. Dāntián is considered to be a center of Qi or vital energy.

There are several Dāntián points in our body: 

• Top of the skull
• Forehead
• Below the heart
• 2 1/2 inches under our navel
• Soles of our feet

In Chinese medicine, meditation, martial arts, and in different disciplines, like QiGong, we work with the inferior Dāntián, when we visualize our energy. Not only it is the focal point of breathing, but the center of gravity, balance and Qi.  

The inferior Dāntián, as center of gravity, is very important because as we get older, we tend to lose our posture trying to recover the balance, and we hump.

We focus on this point to control our emotions. It is one of our Chakras or energy centers, the seat of prana, Chi or vital energy, which radiates throughout our body.

• The superior Dāntián - Third Eye or upper Chakra is home of the pituitary gland 
• The middle Dāntián is where the Thymus Gland is located 
• The lower Dāntián is the Hara, butterfly, emotion center or golden stove. It is where the center of gravity and the seat of our Qi (Chi) or vital energy center is located

Lower Dāntián - 下丹田, Xià Dāntián

• Located below the navel (about three finger widths below and two finger widths behind the navel)
• It is also called "the golden stove" (金炉 pinyin: Jīn lú) or the "elixir-of-life field"
• Here is where the process begins for developing, refining and purifying the essence (jing) into vitality (qi)
• Here is where we feel "butterflies" when we are very happy, and where a strong feeling is most felt, when one gets scared or startle
  

Middle Dāntián - 中丹田, Zhōng Dāntián

• Located at the level of the heart
• Also called "the crimson palace"
• Associated with storing spirit (shen), with respiration and health of the internal organs, in particular the thymus gland
•  This is where the vital energy or qi is refined into shen or spirit

Upper Dāntián- 上丹田, Shàng Dāntián

• Located at the forehead between the eyebrows or third eye
• Also called "the muddy pellet"
• Associated with the pineal gland
• This is where shen or spirit is refined into wu wei or emptiness