The Miraculous Effects of the Microcosmic Orbit (Guided Meditation)
Chi is a concept of Chinese origin which designates the vital energy that animates us. Chi offers us the ability to manipulate matter (whether it is our body but also many other things), to regulate our emotions and to live in the most harmonious way possible.
It is therefore not surprising that many schools of martial arts and meditations seek to cultivate it and then use it.
Microcosmic Orbit Meditation flows directly from these schools and, more specifically, can be linked to Taoism in general.
Contents :
Discover this meditation in video format
What is the principle of the microcosmic orbit?
The effects of this meditation
Preparing for the Microcosmic Orbit Meditation
Discover this meditation in video format
What is the principle of the microcosmic orbit?
The Microcosmic Orbit is an ancient form of Taoist meditation that combines breathing, meditation, and active visualization techniques. All of this seeks to make us feel chi and then circulate it through a particular channel called the microcosmic orbit.
Present in all of us, the microcosmic orbit is one of the main pathways that chi takes in our body. There are many others (generally represented by the acupuncture meridians or “jing luo” in Chinese), but this one is truly central.
Basically, it starts at the level of our perineum, goes up along our spine then reaches the top of our head, then goes down through our face, our chest then our stomach, to return to the perineum. From there, it goes back down to our feet through the back of our thighs, then back up through the front to finally find the perineum. The microcosmic orbit could therefore commonly be seen as an “8”.
Often the microcosmic orbit is called the “directing channel” of chi. A bit like the leaf of a tree has a main groove (a channel), this is the main energy channel of the human being.
Taoist philosophy teaches us the importance of healthy chi. Meditation of the microcosmic orbit allows us to cultivate it and, more particularly, to tame it through increased awareness of its movements.
This taming will take place in this guided meditation through the visualization of a luminous substance (halfway between fluid and pure energy), which you will imagine circulating along our famous meridian. Of course, this will be accompanied by some breathing and relaxation exercises.
The effects of this meditation
Microorbital circulation is a very “physical”, very “concrete” meditation technique.
Where some will ask you to empty your mind or seek to place you in a particular mental state, here we are faced with conscious work on our internal energy (chi).
For anyone who knows the importance of good regulation of our energy flows, meridians and life channels, the benefits will seem obvious.
Strengthening our connection to ourselves
An important part of the practice of the microcosmic orbit is its ability to strengthen the connection between the different parts of our body.
By following concentrated chi along certain pathways present within us, we can awaken some of them (ultimately all, but this will be the fruit of long work) thus reconnecting certain parts of our being. More broadly, we find ourselves better balanced, better harmonized… and therefore better connected.
A potential increase in our physical health
The guided mediation that follows ends with a “digestion” (this is the translation of the Chinese term, but you get the idea) of the excess energy present at the end of the meditation.
This digestion takes place through work centered on a particular point located a few centimeters away from our navel. Known in China as “diantian”, it is a true energy center of the body, and one of the “three treasures”.
Taoism describes the “three treasures” as our three main reservoirs of chi. The diantian is the one from which instinct and life emerge, the one which creates and governs the physical, the matter.
Concretely, the Taoists will see it as promoting a healthy and balanced physical being, and therefore better health.
A release from energetic parasites
We are inhabited by a whole bunch of parasites. Meditation can help us get rid of the energetic types, and the microcosmic orbit meditation is arguably one of the best for doing this.
By working on our internal energies, we transform and sublimate them. By their changed nature, the energetic parasites which could enslave us no longer have the same hold on us because it is no longer the same environment with which they are confronted.
A stronger immune system
If we take its harmonizing effect of reconnection, that of releasing parasites, and the obvious relaxing effect specific to meditations... The microcosmic orbit appears as a fantastic way to increase our vitality and strengthen our immune system.
Balance is the key to healthy living. Through the meditation that follows, this key will be offered to you.
It is now recognized that a daily practice of meditation has many health benefits. According to Chinese Taoist tradition, the effects are even miraculous, including the question of immortality that certain practitioners have achieved.
Allegorical image or real quest? The question is asked.
In any case, we are not promising you anything on this subject (we would be very proud of it!), but simply want to inform you and, why not, tickle your curiosity and encourage you to undertake research on the subject.
Calm down, relax
thanks to meditation and its tools
Preparing for the Microcosmic Orbit Meditation
Microcosmic orbit meditation involves a prior physical relaxation that we will achieve through a few conscious breaths. This will be followed by the visualization of chi in the form of luminous energy, which you will become aware of and then circulate throughout your microcosmic orbit. I will guide you throughout to clearly indicate the path that this canal takes.
To allow good circulation, you must adopt a particular posture. Sit on a chair with your feet parallel and firmly planted on the floor. Align your pelvis with your spine. Tuck your chin in slightly and relax your shoulders.
Touch the tip of your tongue to the front of your palate, just behind your teeth. This is essential for energy to flow well.
And finally, place your hands on top of each other, with the palms facing the sky, the left hand rests on the right hand for men, and the opposite for women.
The different steps
These different stages are actually supposed to follow each other harmoniously, rather than being cut into separate parts.
After all, this guided meditation forms a whole constructed as a single work, a single tool capable of functioning in its uniqueness.
In video and audio, no distinction is made.
The following breakdown therefore has the sole purpose of helping you, a posteriori, to understand the modes of action implemented within the framework of this meditation.
Step #1: Relaxation of body and mind
You're in the right position, so we can get started.
To relax your upper body, imagine some heaviness in your legs.
This heaviness has a real weight, and lowers your center of gravity.
About ¾ of your body weight is felt in your legs. In comparison, everything above your hips feels light, almost airy.
Breathe deeply, taking your breaths from your belly.
Observe your breathing for a few moments. Without focusing on it, just observe.
Let the thoughts drift away
Always calmly, breathe.
Relax.
Feel this stillness, this calming of body and mind.
Step #2: Concentration of energies
This state of calm allows you to more easily feel the energies of the body.
With each inhale, imagine that your energy is being drawn toward your perineum. The center of the microcosmic orbit is there, right there in the center of your pelvic floor.
Feel the energies of your legs, your arms. With each inspiration, they reach this point which is charged with luminous energy (blue, gray or white, it depends on you), like a ball the size of a coin, which concentrates energy.
The energy of your heart, charged with your emotions… also goes down there.
That of your mind, with the worries, the agitation. It goes down there when you inhale.
Like a big concert where all the musicians play in unison, your whole body discharges its energy towards this point at your base, towards your perineum... which you feel energized, almost vibrating.
Step #3: Circulation along the microcosmic orbit (1/2)
You will now send this concentrated energy up along your spine.
With each breath, the ball of energy rises. Gently. Vertebra by vertebra.
You feel it. Its warmth. His energy is very real.
On its way, it balances, harmonizes and heals.
It rises gently, gradually, to reach your neck. It continues to the back of your head, as if there is a line drawn there, a path.
Slowly, with each inhale, it moves toward the crown of your head.
The highest point of your body... It is also the one most linked to the spiritual.
Throughout its journey, the chi ball interacted with energy centers present in you. This one is special, let the ball be there for a few extra moments.
Step #4: Circulation along the microcosmic orbit (2/2)
We will now bring the energy back down, passing through the front of your body.
It is very important here that your tongue remains in contact with the front of your palate.
With each exhalation this time, you will slowly see the ball of chi descend… starting with your forehead.
As if it were crossed by a channel separating it into two symmetrical parts, the front of your forehead sees the passage of chi, which joins the point between your two eyebrows.
It continues along the bridge of the nose, then joins its tip. Then the lip, gently, and the chin.
Release your jaw, relax it and let the energy flow into your throat, as if it were drawn to your Adam's apple.
The journey continues peacefully, towards the torso, at heart level. And lower still, towards the solar plexus.
Towards the stomach, the chi continues, and joins the navel.
Step #5: Digestion in the diantian and end
A few centimeters below the navel is the diantian. It is the center of life and intuition, it is the great ocean of energy that animates us.
We will disperse the ball of energy there, rotating it clockwise.
To do this, imagine it caught in a sort of whirlwind which, without absorbing it, gives it a circular movement.
This movement is slow, and centered below your navel.
This movement happens naturally, and energizing it seems to release it.
Continue a little longer.
During this meditation, you will have concentrated your energies and circulated them to your main energy centers. There are some on your back, on your head and the front of your body. You will have awakened and harmonized them. You will then have released the remaining energy into its infinite source, which has digested it back to where it knows your body needs it.
In short, you have just worked on your chi towards your health and well-being, and you can congratulate yourself for that.
Other guided meditations in our series
Among the many objects that we offer to our community, we have notably collected some meditation tools.
Here is the collection in question, made up of objects from cultures from the four corners of the world but sharing the same goal: to help the practice of meditation or, quite simply, relaxation and relaxation.
In short, you will find singing bowls, various musical instruments, flags and decorations, reiki pendulums and even certain ingredients and crystals.
Here is also a collection of free books that may help you in your life. Between healthy eating, self-hypnosis, prayers and self-confidence, many themes are covered in our library which, once again, has been entirely open to you.
If you would like to discover our other meditations, here is the section of our blog which brings them all together.
Here too, we wanted to deal with the most varied themes possible (within the limits of our knowledge, of course).
If, however, you do not find what you are looking for there, do not hesitate to tell us by leaving a comment in the section at the end of one of the meditations: we will read it and try to take it into account in our future work. !
The story of the microcosmic orbit
Microcosmic orbit meditation comes directly from Qi Gong, a Chinese esoteric art based on the circulation of human internal energies. A true jewel of health and longevity, Qi Gong has been practiced for millennia in the Middle Kingdom by Taoist monks, but also by lay people wishing to tame the vital energies present within them.
The first documents explicitly speaking about Qi Gong are more than 2,500 years old, but most historians estimate that the practice (in its primitive form at least) is more than 5,000 years old. In this sense, Qi Gong is an art inseparable from different philosophies that the Chinese may have known. Obviously, we can think of Taoism or Confucianism but the primary roots of Qi Gong are actually found more in the Shamanism of the first tribes of China. Yes, at the time, Asia (like the whole world) was populated by shamanic tribes. Their beliefs, although having evolved over time, are therefore partly found in Qi Gong.
The other major philosophy having influenced this internal esoteric art is Buddhism. In particular, great sages who came from India during the 5th century AD brought with them numerous meditation techniques which would subsequently have influenced Chinese thought. So, even if the circulation of the microcosmic orbit is not directly linked to Indian principles (like the chakras), the lineage is clearly defined.
Later, Taoism saw the meditations provided by Buddhism as a truly effective means of purifying oneself, gaining health and well-being, and therefore mixed them with its age-old practices.
