Heart-Mind Connections

 "Research in the relatively new discipline of neuro-cardiology has confirmed that the heart is a sensory organ and acts as a sophisticated information encoding and processing center that enables it to learn, remember, and make independent functional decisions that do not involve the cerebral cortex. Additionally, numerous studies have demonstrated that patterns of cardiac signals to the brain affect autonomic regulatory centers and higher brain centers involved in perception and emotional processing.\."
-  Thomas R. Verny, M.D., The Embodied Mind, Pegasus Books, 2021, p. 125.

"Common Heart Expressions

Follow your heart.
He had a big heart.
If you find it in your heart.
My heartfelt sympathies on you loss.
Wear one's heart on one's sleeve.
He died of a broken heart.
His heart is in the right place.
Eat your heart out.
She was a lighthearted person.
She had a change of heart.
Her heart was not in it.
He has a heart of gold.
He was a heartless villain.
A bleeding heart.
A faint heart.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
With an aching heart.
She is all heart.
Open one's heart to.
Pour open's heart out to.
With a heavy heart."

-  Thomas R. Verny, M.D., The Embodied Mind, Pegasus Books, 2021, p. 116, and Mike Garofalo.

"Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts.  This is the secret of success."
- Swami Sivananda

"Your heart is full of fertile seeds, waiting to sprout."
- Morihei Ueshiba

"A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge."
Thomas Carlyle

Tai Chi Chuan, Chi Kung, Nei Gung, and Yoga Masters all mention the role of our hearts and lungs in our brief lives.  

Chinese medical theorists and martial artists (Heart-Mind Boxing) point to the Heart or Middle Dantian or Hsing-Ming (Heart-Mind) as a locus for energy and consciousness. Breathing techniques involving the lungs is also a constant point of emphasis.

"The nearest equivalent to the English term for mind in the classical period is xin 心, which originated as a picture of the heart in human beings and animals and directs body’s behavior. Since ethical guidance in Chinese thought arises from both the cognitive function of the mind and the affective states attributed to the heart, xin is frequently translated as “heart-mind”. This translation will be used here. The xin is credited with thinking si 思, understanding míng 明, knowing zhi 知, intention zhi 志, felt moods and/or emotions qing 情, and desire yu 欲. Xin plays a central role in Chinese ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics; and philosophical disputes often turn on how different schools or Masters portray the role of xin. How it arrives at ethical guidance is a central point of contention between those who treat the guidance as internal (Mengzi) to those who treat xin as navigating an external normative structure and those who advocate emptying or ignoring the xin and taking guidance from some other organ or authority."
Mind (Heart-Mind) in Chinese Philosophy

I have more doubts about the efficacy of the Lower Dan Tien, and its role as an energy source, reservoir, and generator.  See my post titled:
Dantian: A Baffling Legacy.  The area below and behind our belly button is primarily used for digestion, elimination, the female reproductive organs (womb), and some big muscles involved with leg movement and balancing. Digestion is critical for life and has its own biochemistry and automatic functioning.  However, A TCM "Dantian" is invisible and undetectable to modern medical anatomy.

I've never heard any Chi Kung or Tai Chi Chuan teacher talk about sending Chi energy from the heart and lungs out to the arms, hand, legs, feet, or brain; or Chi energy circulation to and from the Middle Dantian or Heart area. This seems remiss to me.  

I have heard both taijiquan and qigong teachers talk about their large bellies as the Dantian source of their power and a chi resovoir.  Men don't have a womb for reproduction, but I guess they envy a woman's power.  People who eat too much and don't exercise, as they age, accumulate fat: men morso in the abdomen and women in the hips. Since the lower Dantian is invisible and non-existent, people can still imagine what they want to imagine about "It" as with other supernatural entities.  

Heart and vascular diseases are the highest cause of death in the world. Far fewer die of kidney or bowel or excretory diseases.  If your heart or lungs fail you die quickly.  If your lower intestine is diseased you die far less quickly.  The heart and lungs never rest; but, you can live a week without water and a month without food. Which is more important to immediate good health and life?  

Yoga masters and Indian doctors speak about the Heart Charkra (Anhata) in a similar way. Yoga practitioners practice a variety of breathing exercises (Pranayama). 

"The middle dantian is located at the center of the chest and is most closely related to the heart chakra, or Anahata. It’s associated with the thymus gland and is considered to be the seat of qi.  “Qi is more subtle and less dense of an energy than jing, and as you elevate through the dantians, you also evolve through the purity of consciousness and subtlety of energy, just like you would in looking at the chakras,” says Soffer. “Qi, like prana, is as ubiquitous in the body as it is in nature. It’s the basis of form and function for universal energy.” According to practitioners, the middle dantian is the spark of all living things. The energy in this dantian is considered unique when compared with the other two. “The energy here is created from the food and fluids we consume and the air we breathe, and is appropriately located around the upper abdomen, where we consume, digest, and distribute energy throughout the body,” explains Ali Vander Baan, a licensed acupuncturist and founder of Yintuition Wellness in Boston. According to Soffer, when a person’s essence (jing) is properly cultivated, their life force rises to support the middle dantian and the opening of the heart. “This is a common occurrence on the path of enlightenment, to become open-hearted, loving, compassionate, and a source of good for the world around you,” explains Soffer."
- What are Dantian

When I teach Tai Chi Chuan, Qigong, Nei Gong, and Yoga I place much more emphasis on strengthening the heart, improving the functioning of the heart, using the emotional-mental aspects of the heart, having the heart and desire for training, having a big and kind heart, and heartfelt understanding; and proper breathing methods and exercises. Sending energy from the heart and lungs to all parts of our body via blood and the circulatory system is my focus.  Blood and nerves transmissions seem a more understandable anatomical and physiological concept to me.  I place little or no emphasis upon the Lower Dantian except for centering and balance in the lower back and hip areas. 

The Dantian: A Baffling Fancy

 

The Dantian: A Baffling Fancy

By Michael P. Garofalo
October 7, 2022

 

Since I started practicing Taijiquan and Qigong in 1986, most of my teachers have talked about the “Dantian” many times. Books, webpages, magazines, and information sheets are filled with references to the concept, function, and uses of the Dantian. I could site sources for all the claims below, but most serious and informed internal arts students are already familiar with the sources of these views. 

 

Frequently, it is claimed that the Dantien is a few inches below and behind the umbilicus (belly button, navel).  Modern worldwide medical anatomy makes reference to the known organs that occupy this general area of the body: the large and small intestines for digestion, kidneys and urinary system, the female reproductive organs and womb, the musculature of the lower abdominals and obliques, the lymph system, the neural system, the colon, and the lower back.  

There is no mention in current medical science anatomy and physiology textbooks of an organ or function that resembles a Dantian.  I don’t recall that the excellent Harvard Medical School Study of the many benefits of Taijiquan practice makes any mention of the function or identity of an actual Dantian in our bodies.

 

Some advocates of Dantian theory claim there are three Dantians in the body.

Some claim that by using Qigong and herbs and meditation you will form a spiritual baby in the Dantien, that might become your immortal soul.

Some claim the Dantien is a “storehouse” of Qi energy.  Like ordinary “storehouses” it can be filled, emptied, locked, damaged, improved, etc. 

Some claim the Dantian is the "Elixir Field" and use agricultural analogies to refer to its cultivation.  

Some claim you can rotate, circle, spin, or move the Dantien with your mind. 

Some claim some physical movements cause Qi energy to flow from the Dantien out to your fingertips.

Some claim some equivalence of the Dantian theory to the Hatha Yoga Chakras or Kundalini speculations. 

Some make claims about elaborate Dantian associations with the Five Elements Chinese scheme. 

Some claim your spiritual essence or your spiritual center is in the Dantien (Chinese) or Hara (Japanese).

Some provide explanations of the Dantien in terms of fascia, lymph systems, nerve systems, hormonal system, or bioelectric currents, etc.

Some claim gently rubbing your abdomen in circles from the rib cage to the bladder areas enliven and strengthen the Dantien.  Many other movements and breathing techniques in Qigong are claimed to influence or energize the Dantien.  

Some claim to feel or sense the Dantien.

Some claim that because it is an essential part of Traditional Chinese Medicine, therefore it must be real and true. 

Some claim the male and female sexual energies and reproductive potentials are also in some way processed or converted by the supposed Dantian. 

Some claim their large bellies are full of Chi in their Dantian.

Some claim the Dantian is spherical, ball shaped, round and centered above and below the navel.  

 

Belief in these various claims may have a salutary effect on your psychological well-being, or not.  Belief in doing some positive action for your well being, or trust in a health mentor, can be beneficial in 30-45% of instances due entirely to the Placebo Effect.  So, imagining rotating and twirling your inner “Dantian” (invisible to surgeons, ordinary eyes, to microscopes, or MRIs) might make you feel better or feel stronger or feel more spiritual or feel less anxious, or not.  Feelings are important in our lives, but are insufficient for proper and accurate medical diagnosis, knowledge, and explanations.    

 

Tradition Chinese medicine and Taoist/Zen views have many good ideas about exercise, lifestyle, herbal remedies, ethical behavior, and a peaceful mind.  However, the many strange and sometimes conflicting claims about the existence and use of the Dantien might not be essential to good Taijiquan or Qigong practices.  Plenty of benefits come from daily physical exercises without any belief in these Dantien claims or theories. I guess it is relatively harmless to imagine having a Dantian, but such fancies are superfluous to the effective somatic and experiential practices of Tai Chi Chuan or other martial arts.   

Undoubtedly, improving the strength and flexibility of the lower abdominals, glutes, inguinal area (kua), illiopsoas, lower back, and the many muscles of the upper thighs are crucial for success and reducing injury in martial arts practices.  Practical physical conditioning exercises help achieve these goals.  I'm unsure about how Dantian imagery or soft Dantian practices achieve these real conditioning objectives.  How is storing more Chi in the Dantian going to help you kick better and safely? 

 

The female sexual organs and womb are in this area of the body.  We all appreciate the fact that our mothers carried us in their wombs, and fed and nurtured us as a fetus embryo, neonate and infant.  Human reproduction is an amazing process.  Our gratefulness is essential.  However, inventing supernatural, non-objective, unverifiable entities regarding the womb area are often lacking in any explanatory power, are uniformed, and in a few cases are just silly.  

 

I would advise skepticism regarding what many Taijiquan or Qigong teachers “preach” about Dantian theory.  They often just repeat something their “Master” told them, without further reflection or empirical evidence.  Their intentions are positive, but their explanations, examples, and theories are weak and muddled.  The Dantien associations with magic, miracles, feelings, ancient religious beliefs, supernatural entities, and outdated anatomy and physiology theories are obvious to critical thinkers.  Maybe believing in cultivating a “spiritual immortal baby” in your Dantien is not in your worldview; even if it is a charming, figurative, uplifting, and mystical fancy.

Taijiquan is difficult to learn and hard to practice alone daily.  Maybe Dantian myths also turn many people off intellectually, and they quit learning because they don't believe in the confusing jargon.

 

Keep in mind that such Taijiquan and Qigong Dantian believers are often unwilling to countenance other views.  These teachers will get mad, correct you, and even reject you for not believing in their Dantian theories.  Beware of asking for rational explanations, scientific evidence, anatomical facts, or common sense implications regarding these outmoded Dantian theories.  Keep your opinions to yourself, or you will be kicked out of this ancient Brotherhood of Taijiquan Dantian Believers.  Just be silent, nod approval, pretend, and act as-if to humor the instructor in class.