Unwinding Your Core Through Abdominal Chi Massage

We hear a lot today about strengthening our core, moving from our core, or our center. What does this really mean? What is our “core” anyway? Simply put, it is the center of gravity in our body located in our abdomen in the area from the navel to the pubic bone. Our core is a very integral area of our body with the navel being the major player in our day-to-day game of health and well being. Why is this so and how can we become more aware of the importance of our abdomen, our core, in maintaining a state of optimum wellness? The answer lies deep in the belly with Chi Nei Tsang (Abdominal Chi Massage).

Over five millennia ago, the ancient Taoist White Cloud monks living in the mountains of China discovered that stagnation of energy (chi) flow in the body interfered with their ability to achieve and maintain higher states of awareness through meditation. This chi stagnation was the primary cause of many physical as well as emotional maladies. They developed a healing art form called Chi Nei Tsang or CNT (which I call Abdominal Chi Massage) to help them alleviate the impediments they encountered. In the 1970’s, Chi Kung Master Mantak Chia brought CNT out of secrecy to the West as the physical branch of his ‘Universal Tao’ healing system.

The term "chi" denotes energy and "nei tsang" denotes internal organs. CNT is a wholistic approach to “wellness touch” which literally means “working the energy of the internal organs” or “internal organs chi transformation.” Using all the principles of Chi Kung, it has also been referred to as “Applied Chi Kung”. This technique is mainly applied to the abdominal area with a massage-like touch to guide internal organs to function with greater efficiency and improve the flow of energy in the body. It has been adapted for modern-day society to integrate the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of our being, to get to the very root of health imbalances. The way it does this is by focusing on the center of the body, the abdomen, where the majority of our vital organs reside. Using very gentle, yet precise deep touches, CNT begins with our true center – the navel center. Since this is where we formed from undifferentiated embryonic tissue into differentiated fetal tissue, the umbilicus is considered to be the root of all the fasciae (smooth connective tissue) in the body. While still in utero, we took in all nutrients and eliminated all toxins and wastes through the umbilicus. We still retain that cellular memory today, which is why toxins still tend to pool around the navel center, where our central lymphatic plexus is located just under the superficial layers of tissue.

“Chi-motions” (energy in motion) bring us information. Emotions are stored by the body and are reinforced by our thoughts. Left unresolved, they are eventually experienced as physical, emotional, or mental symptoms. A symptom is merely an indicator that our body is out of balance, lacking, or out of ease (dis-ease). So what are the benefits of CNT? There are four main benefits to receiving CNT:

On a physical level, CNT touch helps detoxify the body by eliminating excess stagnation, improving elimination and digestion, and stimulating lymphatic and cardiovascular circulation. In this way, it also strengthens the body’s defense system, and therefore, nicely compliments other health care modalities with optimal results. Since the navel is the root of all the fasciae in the body, CNT also helps realign the body structurally by using these precise yet deep touches to access the roots of the navel. It also stimulates the internal organs to work better and, thus, addresses postural misalignments resulting from visceral imbalances.

On an emotional level, CNT helps us become more aware of the quality of our emotional life by getting to the root of the problem. It does this by helping us digest the unresolved emotional issues that may lie hidden within our body. All of our unprocessed emotional life is stored in our digestive system waiting to be addressed. Poor emotional digestion is also one of the main reasons for decreased wellness. CNT facilitates the unfolding of emotions and the clarification of our emotional life, making it possible for us to evolve and grow in the direction of our better self. CNT teaches us to know ourselves better by getting us in touch with our innate ability for wellness. Most of us are not fully in touch with our inner wellness because we have adopted the strategy of shallow breathing. When we breathe fully, we feel (emotions), and when (and where) we do not breathe fully, we do not want to feel. Each session generally includes techniques to help you improve your breathing as well as simple self-help manipulations.

On a mental level, CNT aids in our thinking so we become aware of how all aspects of our being – mind, body, emotions and spirit - are connected. On a spiritual level, it connects us with Source to bring the energy of wellness to work.

As a Chi Nei Tsang practitioner, I do not try to ‘fix’ you because nothing about you is broken. Instead, I act as a conduit for the energy of wellness, bringing you in touch with yourself because the truth is that healing is an inside job. So, when feelings are stirred up during a session, instead of your trying to understand them, I simply guide you to be aware of the familiarity of the feelings, giving you permission to be as non-rational as possible, and allowing you to be in touch with the most abstract aspects of your feelings.

The belly, our core, is generally not accessed during most bodywork sessions, and therefore, is the missing link in most bodywork sessions. In addition to other forms of bodywork, incorporating CNT, or Abdominal Chi Massage, into your personal wellness program can be extremely beneficial by helping you get in touch with your WHOLE SELF to promote wellness from a totally wholistic perspective.