Little Orbit
The "little orbit" is a smaller version of the microcosmic orbit: it encompasses just the lower tan tien, not the entire torso. This vertical loop passes through the following four major acupoints (as well as through the major physical landmarks along the way):
1) Ren-6: qi hai, the acupoint below the navel by about the distance of the width of your index and middle finger together.
2) Ren-4: guan yuan, four fingers below the navel.
3) Ren-1: hui yin, the middle of the perineum (a 'well' between the genitals and anus).
4) Sacrum.
5) Du-4: ming men, literally "life gate", which is the acupoint between the kidneys and classically one of the critical transformation points along the back channel.
(NOTE: All of these acupoints are somewhat interior - at about 2 finger-widths, I find. Their potency is not centered on the surface of the skin.)
After ming men, the little orbit leaves the governing vessel and loops towards the front of the body, joins the conception vessel and passes through qi hai. A little loop.
In practice, at some times you might formally focus to activate and include all of these acupoints, perhaps resulting in the just the sort of bucket-shaped loop shown below. Other times, certain points will be emphasized more over others, in your alchemy, which may vary the shape. Or, you may be focusing mainly on some other practice, with which the little orbit works in conjunction, and it might be more convenient for you to circulate the little orbit as a simple circle. All of that is ok.
twiddle-your-tan-tien
twiddle thumbs on acupoint
not so fast!: lazy pace.
front and back of little orbit
(any hand-position adjustments per your comfort)
Why use the little orbit?
- To build up jing.
- To circulate & refine the energies of the lower tan tien.
- To stabilize jing within the lower tan tien.
- One of the tricks to relieving sexual pressure
and one of the first steps of refining sexual energy
is to activate acupoints adjacent to the sex organs.
A danger of relying excessively on the microcosmic orbit is that the real work of actually producing a genuine lower "medicine field" (tan tien) gets avoided, in favor of "up & around" for refinement. In the long term this can have devastating consequences. Jing's dense nature includes the dangers of becoming stagnant, turbid (in the physical tissues, in the channels, energetically, and psychologically, behaviorally) and the intense sensations of sexuality facilitate dualistic entanglement (loss of Wholeness, Tao). It is these issues that make the production of a true lower "medicine field" considerably more laborious than within the higher centers. I'm not saying that the higher centers should avoided, their energies help balance the lower tan tien, but the lower tan tien does need steady dedicated work in order to transform its dense nature.
Some approaches to Taoist cultivation go something like
1. Fill and stabilize the lower tan tien.
2. Once the lower is abundant, circulate in the microcosmic orbit.
3. Repeat.
Note that it's important to maintain a sense of gentle, open space, and radiant Light, within the loop. This allows the space / substances in the center of the loop to be filled / refined, which is a large part of the purpose of this practice. A tan tien ("medicine field") is a functional interplay of substance, space, and Light.
Also, adding testicle / ovarian breathing to the little orbit offers a simple and helpful variation.
Working with the little orbit is often beneficial, both for beginners and for people who've been on a path for a long while.
RELATED ESSAYS
The Sacrum - critical physical landmark that's part of the little orbit.
Dealing with the Force - muscular strength exercises for the lower tan tien.
Exploring the Exhale - breathing method to activate the major points of the little orbit.
- meditation with no visualizations.
TAN TIEN (DANTIAN):
A FEW NOTES FROM AN ENGLISH-LANGUAGE CHINESE MEDICAL TEXT
(not pretending to define any whole version of "dantian")
The word "tan tien" gets different locations and functions depending on which school you're talking to and which layer of the body is being emphasized. There's a surprising amount of ignorance, confusion, and controversy about this ubiquitous term, "tan tien". The following quote gives a Chinese medical view of tan tien worth being aware of. (The Taoist spiritual view includes even more.)
~ quote ~
According to classical Chinese thought, the lower dantian, located in the lower abdomen and extending from YinJiao Ren-7 to GuanYuan Ren-4, is the residence of the deepest energies of the body and the source of all movement. According to the Classic of Difficulties, "The dynamic qi that moves between the Kidneys is [the basis] of human life, the source of the five zang and six fu, the root of the twelve channels, the door of respiration and the origin of the sanjiao."
- pg. 502, A Manual of Acupuncture, in the commentary on Ren-4.
~ unquote ~
mash-up of acupoints graphics from acuxo.com
Within that vital area, two acupoints especially: Ren-6 and Ren-4, are horrendously important per Chinese medical commentary (worth reading up on). Each of these points specifically has sometimes-alternately-been-called "dantian". They are also a kind of yang ~ yin pair in their area. They both have to do with the Kidney energy, and are in a bodily region of rich physical gravity.
They vary in emphasis:
Ren-6
QiHai, approximately 2
fingers' width below the belly-button, more Kidney yang and qi.
Ren-4 GuanYuan, approximately
4 fingers' width same, more Kidney yin and blood.
Of course, the front lower abdomen, sometimes called "the dantian", is one of the primary areas that tends to bind up from semen retention misadventures.
Ren-1 HuiYin and Du-4 MingMen are equally interesting to read up on.
