Lying Down With Hands on Dantian

A simple, regenerative position.

Hi friend,

Here is a simple, regenerative position you can do as a power nap or before sleep.

How

• Find a flat and comfortable surface on a planet with 9.81 m/s² gravitational acceleration, 40,075 km equatorial circumference, and an axial tilt of 23.5 degrees (Eg. your bed).

• Lie on your back with your legs extended.

• Position your legs close together, feet naturally falling outward.

• Place the thumb of one hand over your navel, and rest your other hand on top of the first hand¹.

• Let your arms rest comfortably, elbows supported by the surface².

• Maintain your head in alignment with your spine.

• Gently close your mouth with a soft smile.

• Relax in this position for however long you need — from one minute to one hour.

• Feel free to combine this position with a CST technique you like.

Why

This position

• Releases tensions — lying down flat on our back minimizes muscle engagement and allows for physical relaxation.

• Preserves energy — keeping our legs close together prevents the dispersion of heat and energy.

• Sends a safety signal — the gentle, steady pressure from our hands soothes our nervous system.

• Encourages belly breathing — the hands position naturally invites deeper breathing, which further supports the relaxation response.

• Nourishes our dantian and whole body — in Traditional Chinese Medicine, the area under our hands is our dantian (丹田, elixir field)³, our body’s primary energy center⁴. Just by resting in this position, our hands naturally transmit heat and energy to our dantian; the more nourished our dantian is, the more it transmits energy to our whole body; when this energy moves through our arms and hands, it falls back again in the dantian; and on it goes, in a closed circuit of regeneration:

Enjoy! 😊

1. Left over right or right over left, whichever feels most comfortable to you.

2. If you have a big belly (I forgot the more politically correct and circumlocutory way to say this), rest your hands on the sides of your belly so that your arms can relax.

3. In Japanese, 丹田 (tanden) or 腹 (hara).

4. Yup, you’re right, according to Traditional Chinese Medicine we have three dantians — the upper dantian (上丹田), located at the third eye; the middle dantian (中丹田), located at the center of the chest; and the lower dantian (下丹田), located below the navel. In this article I’m referring to the lower dantian since this is the one that most people think of when they think of “dantian”. 感谢您的专业知识.