In all three postures, your tongue should lightly touch the front roof of the mouth— unless, of course, other exercises require you to do otherwise. Particular attention should be paid to keeping the jaw and the forehead relaxed since this is often overlooked. “Steady and comfortable” describes a harmonious force field that occurs in the state between being tense and being relaxed; this is the state of body and mind that is optimal for contemplation or concentration on a magical or mystical goal. That’s all on this subject for now. We’ll get back to it again later on in this book.
basic exercise in energy circulation One of the most important exercises for harmonizing the body’s subtle internal energies is borrowed from Chinese acupuncture and Taoist yoga. It’s a basic exercise in energy circulation that we would like to describe in general here. More details about this practice can be found in the relevant literature available. The simplified form described here has, however, proven to be effective and is sufficiently suitable for our purposes. Acupuncture is based on the vital life force called chi (or ch’I, ki, qi, xi) that flows along the meridians or energy pathways in the body. For this basic exercise in energy circulation, we need to familiarize ourselves with two of these meridians, namely the Governor Vessel and the Conception Vessel (Dumai and Renmai). The Governor Vessel runs from the perineum to the midline of the back and neck, down the midline of the head, right up to the middle of the upper lip and palate. The Conception Vessel also begins at the perineum and runs from the midline of the stomach, chest, neck, and chin, right up to the middle of the upper lip and lower jaw or tip of the tongue. (Various authors do not always agree on the exact course of the meridians. Even when it comes to the directions in which they flow, there are several variations and differences in opinion.) With this basic exercise in energy circulation, use your imagination to circulate the energy from the perineum in the Governor Vessel up the back and then back down the front in the Conception Vessel. After we’ve done this, rub your hand several times over the hara region (located roughly the width of three fingers below the navel) in order to store the activated energy there. Note: In order to avoid a blockage of energy, especially in the head area, it’s important to rest your tongue lightly on the front roof of the mouth. 12 Magic and Yoga (I)