Xia Yuan, also known as Strengthening Organs, is the last of the moving Qi methods. It focuses attention on the organs, working directly on Qi of the organs to improve their health, the health of the overall body, and even our emotional health.
Many cultures acknowledge the link between the organs and emotions. In Western culture, the heart is associated with love and joy, the spleen, with melancholy. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the association between organs and emotions is stronger and more specific. Organ health and emotions have a reciprocal association: the organs can arouse emotions, but emotions can also negatively impact the organs, depleting and disturbing their Qi. In Xia Yuan, work on organ Qi improves our ability to cope with negative emotions and calms the emotional response. In turn, having fewer, less frequent negative emotions aids in maintaining organ and overall health.
Xia Yuan uses many time-honored means of improving Qi in the body, together with Ren Xue-specific techniques. Using sounds and breathing to activate Qi dates back 2000 years. In Xia Yuan, practitioners learn to reproduce ancient sounds as well as sounds developed or adapted specifically for Ren Xue. The sounds are made either vocally, using the sound’s vibration to activate Qi (beginner) or as a Qi sound (audible only to the person emitting the sound). Sounds made this way are called Qi chanting. Finally, sounds can be made using the mind only, by ‘Shen chanting’.
Other techniques that help direct and hold attention on an organ include visualization, focusing the mind, and hand forms. All work together to bring the focus to each organ. The method can be adapted to place more emphasis on organs that are already depleted and not in optimal health.
This video explores the power of Xia Yuan on each organ and the real benefits that can be had by improving its Qi.
To begin a practice, the Xia Yuan course is available on At Home Learning.