The Three Treasures
The three treasures practice within Qigong focuses and works with three of the most powerful energies centres of our bodies.
It is a more spiritual practice as it starts to take us deeper into the journey of trying to understand who we really are at our essence.
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The three treasures we are working with are within us all and unique to every individual. In essence they make you who you are and when we are connected with them and they are in balance we naturally start to live happier, healthier and more fulfilling lives. This balance of energy brings with it a feeling of expansion as we begin to tap into our fullest potential, we feel abundant in our energy, and more open to the world both emotionally and spiritually. We feel connected to who we are and stronger and more anchored to ourselves.
So often in our lives we try to take control of the world around us and have power over it even though, in reality this is not possible. We are more often than not completely powerless in areas we try to take power of. The more we try to take power over our external word, whether that is our circumstances, other people or events the more tension this will create within ourselves. For example if we are running late for work and hit traffic or get stuck behind a slow driver we can instantly become very tight and angry as we try to claim some power over what is happening, however in reality we have no power to change this situation in any helpful way externally. We end up tight, flustered and on edge when we turn up to work. What has this achieved? Physically and mentally we have expended a vast amount of energy trying to fight with a situation we had little control over.
When we start to connect more deeply with ourselves we come to the knowing that the only place we ever truly have any power is within ourselves. Within this place we know that becoming angry and frustrated at the slow car in front of us is fruitless and detrimental to our own inner state of peace and t arrive and we benefit both mentally and physical. Our energy remains in balance and our day progresses in the way we chose it to.
So where are the Three Treasures?
The Three Treasures are energy centres that are within us all, and are there for everyone to discover and enjoy. The three treasures are also referred to as our lower, middle and upper “tan tiens” (elixir fields where energy accumulates and gathers).
The first of the three treasures we explore is our lower tan tien, which is found just below our navel. Our lower tan tien is linked very much with our body and contains the energy of our body. It is the centre of our original life force energy and the energy of this area is referred to as “Jing qi”. This centre is very much our source of power and a place where we can store energy.
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The lower tan tien asks the question “where am I?”
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Our bodies are always within the present moment and when we ask and then answer this question we are always where our bodies are. The lower tan tien helps us to stay grounded and sat within the present moment.
The second treasure is found in our heart centre and is referred to as our middle tan tien. This centre is connected with our heart and our emotions. This centre is constantly digesting our external energy and outward experiences. At many times within the day a lot of our energy can be used up and focused within this centre as we become consumed with our emotions. Hatred, anger, frustration, impatience are all examples of some of the very powerful emotions which can really drain us of our energy, often to no good end. Our bodies become depleted of energy and we feel powerless and no longer centred within ourselves.
When the energy of this centre becomes stronger and more balanced we find that we are significantly less sensitive and emotionally responsive to other people’s emotions and the events that unravel themselves around us in our day to day lives. Our pericardium energy (our heart protector) becomes stronger and we are now able to stay more centred in ourselves and progress through our day in the way that we chose. We no longer get struck off balance by events or other peoples’ energy that once may have triggered within us more negative emotions.
The middle tan tien asks the question “what do I want?” and the energy of this centre is “Qi”
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When working with the middle tan-tien and our emotional energy within Qigong practice we have to first recognise the power and influence of our emotions. We come to understand that we are constantly on a search to try and identify and satisfy the question of “what do I want?” and this search is almost always led by our emotions.
Either we search for more of what once made us feel good in the hope that these emotions will return or we dream of our futures and try and work tirelessly towards a dream that will “one day make me feel happy” We are holding on to our pasts and dreaming of our future with no real sense of happiness in the now.
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Alternatively our emotions can lead us to avoid events that have caused us to feel negative emotions in the past as we experience, fear, panic, and anxiety. On the other hand we can quickly experience strong negative emotions when the world and people around us don’t meet our expectation of how we believe our life is meant to be to make us happy. We can start to quickly feel angry, resentful, depressed, frustrated and jealous. It all feels messy, stressful, unstable and unfulfilling.
When our middle tan –tien is more balanced we have space between the events that unfold around us and our response to them, we experience a greater sense of compassion, gratitude and love both inwardly and outwardly. We are less driven by our emotions and start to become aware of the bigger picture. Our thought energy (Shen) becomes less caught up in our emotions as we stop trying to obsessively figure out how to problem solve and plan our way out of the negative emotions or create more of the positive emotions we once felt. Our thought energy or “Shen”energy is connected with the third of the three treasures, our upper tan tien, which is discussed next.
The third of the Three Treasures is referred to as our “upper tan-tien” and is found behind our mid eye or centre of our head. This energy centre is connected with our thought energy and our greater connection to the Universe. The energy in this centre is referred to in qigong as “Shen Qi” and is believed to be our eternal energy connected to who we are even after death. It’s spiritual in nature and when our energy centres are balanced; open and flowing we have access to the universe around us and our “higher power”. We become more intuitive, more creative and more connected within ourselves and within the universe.
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The upper tan tien asks the question “who am I?”
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When working with the upper tan tien and shen energy we become more aware of its presence and its power to transform our life as we begin to understand and experience the nature of our true self.
For much of our lives we can become very caught up in the energy of our emotions and the energy of our body, in the form of our desires. Because these energies are constantly changing due events in our lives and interactions within the world we can quickly start to believe that this is who we are. We can become dependent on external things, people and events in attempt to keep us feeling stable when in truth this is never possible. The world around us, including other people, all continue to their own unique beat and we have little control over any of it. As a result we feel unstable, emotional and only ever experience fleeting feelings of fulfilment (when the world and others around just so happen to get things “right” for us).
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When we connect and open up to our Shen energy we open up a whole new experience and understanding of our true self. Our true and eternal self is much more stable and constant and will always provide us with a much clearer vision of the world around us and our true place within it. When we shen energy is open, balanced and in harmony life becomes easier and much more enjoyable as we access intuition, purpose and creativity. Life starts to find its flow and we feel at peace.
How this all comes together with the 3 treasures practice
When working with the 3 treasures in Qigong we are helping to open up, harmonise and optimise the flow and connection between these three energy centres. We are strengthening and building up the energy of our body (jing qi) by connecting more deeply with the energy of the earth and the ever present now. This can be extremely nurturing, healing and calming as we start to bring the energy down from the chaotic thinking of our upper tan-tien and the emotionally charged energy of our middle tan- tien. We find peace in the present moment. It is from this space that we can begin to balance the middle tan tien, clearing away and optimising the heart energy or Qi. We strengthen our heart energy and feel much more in control of our emotions as we feel more grounded and connected to ourselves.
We then move up to our upper tan –tien, as the heart energy and our emotions are less charged and chaotic our thought energy has the space to tune in more to our true selves and our spiritual and eternal shen energy. We can think more clearly and have greater levels of energy available to us. We become creative, inspired and much more intuitive.
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We are more balanced, healthy, fulfilled and connected to our true nature and the universal energy around us and within us.