Lower Tan Tien Breathing
formerly "Iron Shirt 1"
Carrying vitality and consciousness,
embracing them as one,
can you keep them from parting?
Concentrating energy,
making it supple,
can you be like an infant?
Purifying hidden perception,
can you make it flawless?
- Tao-te Ching (Ch.10)
pg 12 of Vitality, Energy, Spirit
The above quote provides a blueprint for lower tan tien work.
NOTE re: making it supple, semen retention, and lower tan tien breathing:
If you can't yet, through lower tan tien breathing and other exercises, resolve lower tensions to the degree that your whole pelvic cavity is "like butter", then attempts to retain aroused sexual energy will be counter-productive, will store trouble.
Cautions about Iron Shirt 1 packing breathing:
Standing practices are a main-stay of Taoist exercises; I hope that I've established that point of view in the "Iron Shirt Introduction". Much of what's left to say here are some cautions about jumping into the more aggressive "packing breathing" practices, and the proposal of a gradual approach to lower tan tien breathing - starting with the gentler techniques.
The following two posts were part of a discussion-thread in which a student, practicing Iron Shirt 1 packing-breathing very aggressively on his own for a period of at least some weeks, incurred injury (temporarily impaired vision, anxiety, dizziness) and was seeking remedial help.
From HT-USA Discussion site post #6191 Title - Re: Anyone doing iron shirt packing.
James McConnell's notes the discontinuation, and danger, of iron shirt packing breathing.
Dr. Jampa MacKenzie Stewart explains "Palm and Sole Breathing", an important safety feature of Iron Shirt Chi Kung. (And not only that, a good practice in itself!)
Vibration Platform
Dramatically enhances the safety, efficacy of breathing methods that are intended to massage tissue, loosen fascial adhesions, disperse tension, and increase
circulation. Immensely useful for lower tan tien
breathing ventures, simply an absolute requirement for iron shirt packing
breathing experiments.
The Gentle, Easy Way to Pack Your Iron Shirt
"Single biggest danger of packing is failure to unpack." Michael Winn cautions against over-doing Iron Shirt packing, provides an alternative gentle approach, and corrects orientation towards deeper purposes of cultivation.
70% Guide-line
Several systems advise lower tan tien breathing practices to 70% capacity. That is, you feel like you fill your lower ab, etc., to about 70% of your current capacity. Generally you'd do this for quite some rep's (vs. just a few max'd packs) and it's not about pressurized isolation: it's about focused integration. 70% puts you in a healthy mid-range where you are working your tissues, but not incurring damage (through packing-in tension, or actual tissue and capillary damage). The feel for, sensations of, that range (up to productivity, short of damage) is very different in qi gong than in weight lifting (and various other external sports). 70% is a good starting pointer, as we learn to re-calibrate our sensitivities to qi gong exercise.
In truth, if you stay in this game, you will probably experiment with a variety of breath techniques, at a variety of intensities. Over time you'll learn generally what sort of technique, intensity, is appropriate for your alchemy at a given time and - hopefully - you'll get really fluent at one or two techniques that'll serve you as home base. Ultimately, though, (and unavoidably) you'll develop a rounded skill-set in a number of layers of the body.
Its safest, and simply sensible, to start with a gentle technique first.
Safer, Alternative and Preparatory Approaches:
Iron Shirt 1: Resources for Gentler Alternatives to Packing Breathing
Several gentle, yet very deep & integrative methods.