Ian Burgess 理山

Eight Seated Brocades

Ian Burgess

Eight seated brocades

First Exercise – The Heavenly Drum

(Awakening the Shen)

Begin in a comfortable seated position. You’ve already entered a quiet, meditative state. Your posture is upright, your spine gently extended, and your front body softening down. Let the breath settle and allow stillness to envelop you.

Now, we begin the first part: Clacking the Teeth. Bring your awareness to your mouth. Keep your tongue lightly on the roof of the mouth behind the front teeth. With composure and softness, gently open and close your jaw so that your upper and lower teeth meet with a light clacking sound – like soft maracas. Not loud, but resonant – this sound should echo through your head, vibrating at the crown and behind the eyes. Perform this 36 times, each clack a gentle chime waking up the mind, stirring the Shen from slumber. By the end, there should be a gentle tingling or a clear presence of alertness in the head.

Next, you move to Covering the Ears (Closing Mìng Kōng). Without losing your posture, raise your hands and rotate them so your palms face inward and fingertips reach toward the back of your skull. Bring the heels of your palms to seal over your ears. Press gently but firmly. Your elbows should point outward and slightly up, shoulders lifted slightly to support the posture. This creates a closed chamber in the head. Now listen – you will hear the sound of your own breath, louder now in this enclosed space. Begin to breathe softly and steadily through the nose. Your goal is to reduce the sound of your breath until it becomes imperceptible. It may take a few rounds – perhaps 9 or 36 – but with each breath you guide yourself toward internal stillness. The breath becomes fine, quiet, and nearly invisible.

Now that the breath is silent, we move to Beating the Heavenly Drum. Without lowering your hands, form them into the drum position: your index fingers rest over your middle fingers, creating a little hook. Now flick the hooked index fingers down so they tap the base of your skull, just on either side of the spine – the Jade Pillow area. Beat both sides simultaneously, gently but rhythmically. Do this 36 times. You will hear and feel a deep drumming resonance in the head – not unlike the echo of a gong in a cave. This awakens the deeper mind, resonates through the skull, and clears the clouds of mental fatigue.

Finally, lower your hands gently to rest on your knees or thighs. Sit still. Let all sensation settle. Feel how you’ve shifted from scattered or sleepy awareness into calm, clear presence. Your mind is now focused, your breath refined, and your awareness settled in the head and upper dantian. You are ready to begin further internal work.

Step-by-Step Instructions: First Exercise

Preparation:

Part 1: Clacking the Teeth (36 times)

Part 2: Covering the Ears (Closing Mìng Kōng)

Part 3: Beating the Heavenly Drum (36 times)

Completion: Settling

Second Exercise – Turning the Heavenly Pillar

(Awakening the spine, opening the Du Mai – Governing Vessel)

Narrative Instructions: Turning the Heavenly Pillar

You’ve now gathered focus in the head and breath, and it’s time to deepen the inner awareness – to bring it down into the spine. This exercise, often called “Turning the Heavenly Pillar,” is a spinal rotation done not with external effort, but with deep internal focus.

Begin in your meditative posture, hands resting lightly in front of the lower abdomen – one hand cradled within the other. Allow the spine to feel as if it’s suspended from above, the tailbone gently rooting down, the crown gently lifting.

Now bring your full awareness to the base of the spine – the coccyx. Without moving anything else, begin to rotate that small segment ever so slightly to the right. Not forced – just enough to feel a subtle twist. Once you feel it, move your attention up to the next vertebra, and rotate it slightly to the right as well. Continue this process slowly – vertebra by vertebra, segment by segment – spiralling awareness up the spine like wrapping a soft cloth around a pole.

Keep your body upright, chin slightly tucked – do not lead with the head. Let the rotation be internal, gentle, and precise. By the time your awareness reaches the Jade Pillow (base of the skull), gently press the back of the skull upward and slightly forward, as if you’re lengthening the spine into the heavens.

Hold the posture here for a few seconds. Let the breath pause gently, suspended. Then, from the top down, allow the twist to unwind, relaxing each spinal segment in reverse until you return to the starting position.

Repeat to the left side, following the same process – tailbone to Jade Pillow, gentle lift, and return.

As your skill deepens, each repetition takes longer – not from physical effort, but from increased sensitivity and awareness of each vertebral segment. Over time, you feel more of the spine, open more channels, and awaken more deeply.

Step-by-Step Instructions: Turning the Heavenly Pillar

Preparation:

Turning the Spine to the Right

Turning the Spine to the Left

Breath Coordination

Focus & Intention

Third Exercise – Swirling the Red Dragon

(Generating and swallowing saliva; opening the front channel)

Narrative Instructions: Swirling the Red Dragon

Now that the spine is awake and awareness is rooted, we begin the alchemical flow between upper and lower centres. The Red Dragon refers to the tongue, and its coiling motion generates the Jade Liquid – saliva – considered a precious fluid in Daoist practice.

Begin by resting your awareness in your mouth. Let the tongue touch the inside of the teeth and gently begin to swirl it around the mouth. Move it in a circular motion, tracing the outer gum line along the inside of the lips. Rotate it to the right – slow and deliberate – then switch direction and rotate to the left.

As you do this, you’ll notice saliva begins to gather. This is natural. Let it build.

Now, begin to gently suck the saliva backward, in a rhythmic motion like sipping – back and forth – to thicken and collect it at the back of the throat. Once a sufficient amount has gathered, prepare to swallow in three stages.

Raise your arms to the sides, palms facing out. Push the shoulders and elbows outward, lifting the chin to open the front of the chest and throat. As the chest opens, draw your elbows back and downward, widening the upper chest and throat even further. The front body stretches and creates a clear pathway for the saliva to descend.

Now, with full awareness, swallow once. Pause, then swallow a second time. Pause again, and swallow a third time. Each swallow moves the saliva down further, energising the throat, the heart, the solar plexus, and finally the lower abdomen.

As you complete the last swallow, release the posture slowly. Let the elbows and arms drop naturally and feel the saliva descend, as though tracing the front midline all the way to the lower dantian.

In time, this exercise connects mind, breath, posture, and fluid, guiding energy from the upper dantian to the lower.

Step-by-Step Instructions: Swirling the Red Dragon

Part 1: Saliva Generation

Part 2: Sucking and Preparing to Swallow

Part 3: Arm Movement and Swallowing

Breathing

Fourth Exercise – Rubbing the Kidneys

(Stimulating the Gate of Life and consolidating lower energy)

Narrative Instructions: Rubbing the Kidneys

With the body alert and both the back and front channels open, it’s time to consolidate the Qi in the lower body. The fourth exercise warms and stimulates the Mìngmén, the Gate of Life, located opposite the navel on the lower back between the kidneys. This point is central in Daoist inner cultivation and linked to vitality, original Qi, and longevity.

Begin by sitting upright. Take a moment to bring awareness to the palms. As you inhale, draw your breath into the hands, feeling them become charged and alive. Then rub the palms together, generating heat and intention.

As warmth builds, place your palms flat against your lower back, covering the kidneys. Feel the warmth sink into the area. Inhale again – this time directing the breath into the kidney region, expanding it outward with awareness and breath. The lower back becomes like a balloon gently filling with energy.

Now hold your breath and begin to rub the kidneys in firm, circular motions – not too rough, but with pressure and intention. Rub up and out, then down and in, tracing a symmetrical swirling pattern on both sides. Focus on warming the area, stimulating the skin, fascia, and organs beneath.

When you can no longer hold your breath, stop rubbing and exhale through the kidneys – feel the breath exiting out through the back, as though the energy is being sealed into the area.

Repeat this sequence multiple times – each time bringing awareness, breath, and warmth to this crucial zone. As you rub, you’re not only warming the body, but also grounding your awareness in the lower dantian, consolidating everything that has descended from above in the previous exercises.

This is a key point to pause and meditate. The Gate of Life is now activated, the lower centre is full, and the Qi is ready to be refined through stillness.

Step-by-Step Instructions: Rubbing the Kidneys

Preparation

Warming the Hands

First Rub

If practiced properly, you should feel:

Fifth Exercise – Single Winding of the Windlass

(Opening the Mìngmén Gate and massaging the lower dantian)

Narrative Instructions: Single Winding of the Windlass

With the kidneys warmed and the lower body activated, the next step is to deepen the internal integration of the lower field – the dantian – and awaken the connection between front and back. The image used is an old-fashioned windlass, the kind used to draw water from a well: one hand winds the other, drawing the “bucket” of Qi from deep within.

Begin in a stable seated posture. Rest your right hand flat against your navel, palm pressing in softly. Place your left hand over the back, against the Mìngmén point, so that your two palms are aligned, front and back, like holding the dantian between them.

Now the movement begins.

Keeping the hands firmly pressed, imagine the navel is a point you are physically rotating – not just your hand sliding across the belly, but pulling the navel itself in a circular motion. The hands move in a full circle: upward, forward, downward, and around – always connected through the abdomen.

Let the front hand lead the motion, and feel the pressure on the back hand mirrored through the body. The motion is slow, deliberate, and spiral – massaging the organs, stimulating the fascia, and gently twisting the spine from the core outward.

After a number of rotations in one direction (e.g. 9 or 18), switch sides – the left hand now on the navel, and the right hand on the back – and reverse the direction of the circle.

Throughout, the spine stays as straight and still as possible. You’re not twisting your upper body – instead, the motion arises deep within the belly, as if the lower dantian itself is stirring.

The breath should match the movement: inhale as the hands circle upward and forward, exhale as they complete the downward curve. Let the Qi follow the spiral of the hands.

Done properly, this exercise strengthens the centre, opens the Mìngmén, and brings coherence and heat to the lower dantian – the true engine of inner transformation.

Step-by-Step Instructions: Single Winding of the Windlass

Preparation

Winding the Windlass (Right Side First)

Switch Sides

Focus & Intention

Sixth Exercise – Double Winding of the Windlass

(Opening the mid-back gate and integrating upper-lower body)

Narrative Instructions: Double Winding of the Windlass

Having opened and stabilised the lower gate, we now shift to the middle of the spine – the space around the thoracic vertebrae, near the shoulder blades. This area often holds hidden tension and emotional stagnation. By working it consciously, we allow Qi to flow more freely between the upper and lower dantian.

Sit in your meditative posture. Let the spine remain upright and extended. Now, raise your arms in front of you and cross them at the forearms, as if grasping an invisible wheel with both hands. Your elbows are wide, and your shoulders open outward. There’s a line of connection between the shoulders and the mid-back, where the gate is.

Begin the motion.

Let one hand rise while the other descends. They move in circular paths, like opposite handles on a windlass, turning to draw water. The movement is not just arms circling – it is a torque that rotates and spirals through the shoulders and into the mid-back. The key is to keep the spine still and tall, resisting the urge to sway or twist. Only the arms and shoulders move – the spine acts as the central axle.

As one arm lifts up and forward, the other pulls down and back. The shoulders remain expanded – don’t let them collapse inward. You should feel a pulling, twisting tension spreading through the upper back, the scapulae, and the area behind the heart.

After a number of repetitions in one direction (e.g. 9 or 18), reverse the movement – switch the dominant shoulder and circle in the opposite direction.

The breath moves with the rotation. Inhale as one arm lifts, exhale as it descends. Over time, you may feel a sensation of the mid-back opening and vibrating, as if this part of the spine is being unwound and reconnected.

This movement helps bring the Jade Pillow, Heart Centre, and Dantian into alignment – creating a connected, fluid channel through the body’s vertical axis.

Step-by-Step Instructions: Double Winding of the Windlass

Preparation

The Movement

Breathing

Focus & Intention

Sensory Feedback

Seventh Exercise – Lifting Heaven

(Pressing Up Against Heaven to Open the Spine and Soften the Front)

Narrative Instructions: Lifting Heaven

With the gates of the lower and middle body opened and spiralled, we now draw the entire structure into unity. Lifting Heaven is a vertical stretch that presses energy upward from the base of the spine to the crown, while simultaneously drawing the front of the body downward and inward, opening both back and front channels in harmony.

Begin seated, calm and upright. The tailbone is rooted, the crown lightly suspended, and the front body remains soft.

Now, slowly raise the arms in front of the body. As they rise, so too does your internal awareness – from the lower dantian through the spine, lifting the entire column upward. The palms slowly rotate to face the sky as you continue to lift. As the arms near the top, stretch upward with intention – not just lifting the hands, but extending the spine, ribs, shoulders, and crown toward Heaven.

Once fully extended, allow the hands to curve over the crown, the fingers reaching down toward the head. You may try to touch or “grasp” the top of the head with your fingers. The tailbone continues to press downward – creating a gentle traction up the back and down the front.

Hold this posture for a few breaths. The whole spine is extended, the shoulders open, and the Qi flows freely from base to crown.

Now, slowly begin to lower the arms. But do this with awareness: as the arms descend, feel the front of the body softenand release downward. The movement down the front channel mirrors the rising along the back. By the time your hands return to the lap, the spine remains tall, but the front body is relaxed, yielding, and open.

This is one of the most important harmonising movements in the set. Each time you practise, your spinal length increases, your channels become clearer, and your state becomes more balanced – upright, soft, present.

Step-by-Step Instructions: Lifting Heaven

Preparation

Lifting Movement

Lowering Movement

Focus & Intention

Number of Repetitions

Sensory Feedback

You may feel:

Eighth Exercise – Opening the Leg Channels

(Stimulating Yǒngquán and circulating Qi in the legs)

Narrative Instructions: Opening the Leg Channels

After working through the upper, middle, and lower parts of the torso, we now descend to the legs and feet – the foundation of the body and the closing gate of the microcosmic circuit.

Begin in your seated posture. Let your legs extend gently in front of you – they don’t need to be fully straight. Comfort and alignment are more important than flexibility. Keep the spine upright, not slouched, and allow the arms to be ready at your sides.

Now reach forward, not to stretch the hamstrings or force a forward bend, but to connect the hands to the legs. As your hands slide down the outer line of the thighs and shins, feel yourself tracing the meridians of the leg. When you reach the feet, find the area just beneath the ball of each foot – the Kidney 1 (Yǒngquán) point, located in the sole’s slight depression.

Place your thumbs or fingertips firmly on this point and begin to circle or press deeply. This is not a light massage – you are activating a key point, pressing energy into the base of the body’s meridian system. Dig in with intention, and rotate, either clockwise or in small spirals. You may begin to feel tingling, warmth, or even a return of sensation to legs that have fallen asleep.

Keep the spine straight and avoid collapsing over the legs. Maintain full awareness and focus on the soles of the feet – drawing Qi downward and rebalancing the system.

After holding the breath or staying for a few full breaths, slowly roll back up the spine, drawing the hands back up the legs. You can repeat this process on both sides, and as often as needed.

This final exercise grounds the practice, reactivates the lower limbs, and ensures that Qi has completed its full descent – returning the body to wholeness and readiness for meditation or closure.

Step-by-Step Instructions: Opening the Leg Channels

Preparation

The Movement

Activation at the Feet

Returning Upward

Focus & Intention

Focus on:

Sensory Feedback

Possible sensations include:

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