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In each of the five exercises, there are four stages to the breath: inhaling, holding, re-inhaling, and exhaling. In each exercise, you inhale through the nose and imagine the breath follows the pathway of the side channels until it reaches the junction as described earlier. When the air reaches the junction just below the navel, the energies of the two side channels, male and female, unite and move up the central channel. Imagine that the central channel fills with positive energy that rises to the chakra where you are working in the particular exercise. The breath is held throughout this process, and the focus is held at the particular chakra.
While holding the breath at the chakra specified in each exercise, the positive quality of the prana is held as a vessel holds nectar. Then, without exhaling, you inhale again, taking in a bit more pure air, and continue to hold the breath throughout the movement. This re-inhalation increases the heat and energy that supports the spreading of the prana like nectar throughout the body. The main concentration of this spreading prana is at the chakra specified in each exercise. At the end of the movement, the exhalation descends the central channel and moves out through the side channels and nostrils. Think that this exhalation exhausts, expels, and clears the blocks and obstacles that would obscure your natural awareness. Imagine that the chakra itself opens and clears and supports the experience of open awareness at that chakra. At this point, the breath returns to whatever breath is normal for you, as you rest in open awareness.
When performing the tsa lung, it is recommended that you repeat each exercise at least three times. These exercises can clear gross obstacles such as those that cause disease or strong negative emotions, clear or exhaust the momentum that drives obscuring thoughts, and clear obstacles that disturb your ability to recognize and rest in your own natural mind.
At the end of the set of three, simply rest with attention at the chakra you have been working with, opening and relaxing as the physical, and then the energetic, energies settle. Rest your mind in the open space hosted by the chakra as long as the experience remains fresh and uncontrived. If you can rest with your eyes open, that is best. If, in keeping your eyes open, you find you become distracted, simply close your eyes.
Lung
Tantra is the path of transformation. The five negative emotions—correlated to the five elements—are transformed into five positive qualities: anger into love, greed into generosity, jealousy into openness, pride into peace, and ignorance into wisdom. The suffering being is transformed into the enlightened buddha. Even the physical body is transformed into a body formed of light.
Lung is the energy that powers and is the substance of all things material and immaterial. It is the fundamental energy from which all things arise, the energy of the kunzhi, the basis of existence. At its most subtle level it is undifferentiated, non-localized, and non-dual. Its first discrimination is into the five pure lights of the elements
We become sensitive to and develop the flow of lung using mind, imagination, breathing, posture, and movement. By guiding the grosser manifestations of lung, we can affect more subtle levels. As our sensitivity increases, we can directly experience lung in subtler dimensions.
Lung, in general, is related to the air element. This is the element closest to space, the first to arise from space, and the last to dissolve into the base at death. It pervades everything and everywhere. When we talk about the five elements as five lungs, we are talking about the fire and air aspects of each of the elements. The five lung energies are the airy, less substantial manifestations of the elemental energies in the body.
When the lung abides in the central channel, the practitioner can abide in the nature of mind. The lung and the mind always move together; there is no mind without lung.
1. Upward-Moving Tsa Lung Exercise
The upward-moving tsa lung exercise opens the throat, forehead, and crown chakras. Inhale through the side channels and imagine that pure air enters and fills the central channel up to the throat chakra. Hold the breath, concentrating the focus at that chakra. Reinhale and continue to hold and maintain the focus. Feel the prana spreading upward internally, nurturing all the sense organs located in the head. Bring to mind the obstacles you seek to clear or exhaust. Slowly start rotating the head five times counterclockwise. Feel the prana moving upward through your head in a spiral movement. Then reverse directions and rotate the head five times clockwise, continuing the same feeling of the nectar spreading upward in a spiral movement, as if washing and cleansing all that it touches. At the end of the movement, exhale the air. Imagine that the breath descends the central channel and obstacles leave the body through the nostrils via the side channels. Your attention is directed upward as you exhale, as you imagine that the obstacles carried by the prana are expelled through the crown chakra. Repeat the exercise a total of three times. With each repetition, the exhalation releases and clears obstacles. After the third repetition, rest your mind in open awareness, feeling the throat, forehead, and crown chakras open and clear. Your eyes may be either open or closed at this point. Rest in open awareness as long as the experience remains fresh and uncontrived.
NOTE: The instructions are to hold the breath throughout each exercise and exhale only at the end. However, if you feel you need more air before the movement is completed, do a short re-inhalation. If that is not enough air, repeat a movement only three instead of five times, building up your stamina over time until you are able to do five.
2. Life-Force Tsa Lung Exercise
The life-force tsa lung exercise opens the heart chakra. Inhale through the nostrils, following the pathway of the side channels, imagining that the breath enters the central channel at the junction and rises up to the heart. Hold the air at the chest level, concentrating at the heart chakra. Reinhale, holding and maintaining the focus at the heart chakra while feeling the prana spread internally through your chest, nurturing the area of your heart. Feel or sense the obstacles you are seeking to clear. Extend your right arm straight out from your body and rotate the arm five times overhead in a counterclockwise direction, making a motion like a lasso. Feel the vital air expanding your chest and your life force being strengthened. Then extend and rotate the left arm five times clockwise with the same lasso motion. Still maintaining the breath retention and the focus, place your hands on your hips and rotate the upper torso five times toward the right and then five times toward the left. At the end, exhale the breath, imagining that it descends through the central channel and ascends through the side channels, releasing through the nostrils. Feel the obstacles being released and exhausted with the exhalation. Imagine the heart chakra opening and releasing as well. Repeat this exercise a total of three times. At the end, rest in open awareness with your focus hosted or supported by the opening at the heart chakra. Remain for as long as the experience is fresh and uncontrived.
3. Fire-Like Tsa Lung Exercise
The fire-like tsa lung exercise opens the navel chakra. Inhale the pure air through the nostrils, following the pathway of the side channels, and bring the prana to the junction where it enters the central channel and moves up to the navel. Hold the air with the vase retention. Vase retention (Tibetan: bar lung; Sanskrit: kumbhaka) refers to the act of pulling up the muscles of the anus, perineum, and pelvic platform, creating a basket, while the diaphragm pushes down to create a lid. Take care not to hold with too much pressure or tension. Concentrate your mind at the navel chakra within the “vase.” Reinhale, maintaining the focus and the vase retention. Imagine that the prana spreads, filling the vase and nurturing the navel area. Rotate the abdomen five times counterclockwise, maintaining the concentration and the vase retention, as well as bringing to mind any obstacles you are clearing. Then rotate five times in a clockwise direction. At the end of the movement, the exhalation moves down through the central channel and out the side channels through both nostrils. Feel the obstacles releasing through your breath and dissolving into space. Feel the opening and release at the navel chakra. Repeat the exercise a total of three times. Then rest in open awareness with your focus hosted by the navel chakra. Rest as long as the experience remains fresh and uncontrived.
4. Pervasive Tsa Lung Exercise
The focus of the pervasive tsa lung exercise begins at the junction of the three channels, moves throughout the central channel, pervades the entire body, and then spreads beyond the bounds of the body. Inhale pure air through the side channels to the junction, bringing the prana into the central channel and holding the focus and breath there. Imagine that the prana begins to spread throughout the entire body. Reinhale, feeling the vital breath spreading and particularly pervading those places where the energy seems blocked. As you feel the spread of the vital breath throughout your body, raise your hands above your head. Clap them together sharply above the top of your head and rub your hands together, generating a sense of heat and energy. As you continue to hold the breath, massage your whole body, particularly those areas where you experience any injuries or blockages. Feel these areas come alive, as if every cell of your body were vibrating with vital breath. Still holding the breath, perform a movement similar to shooting an arrow, opening the upper torso and extending your awareness beyond the bounds of your body. Your focus is hosted at the junction of the three channels. Allow your awareness to pervade throughout your body, extending beyond the bounds of your body. Do this five times to the right and then five to the left. At the end, as you exhale, prana descends the central channel and the obstacles are expelled through the nostrils via the side channels. Experience release through all the pores of your body. Let your breath return to normal, and then repeat the exercise for a total of three times. At the conclusion, rest in open awareness. Rest as long as the experience remains fresh and uncontrived.
5. Downward-Clearing Tsa Lung Exercise
The downward-clearing tsa lung exercise opens the secret chakra. In a seated position, cross the legs at the ankles, with the right leg in front of the left and the knees separated and up off the ground. Place each hand on the outside of the corresponding knee to form a stable base of support. Inhale through the nostrils and follow the pathway of the side channels. At the base of the central channel is the secret chakra. Concentrate the attention and the prana at the secret chakra and create a “basket hold” by pulling up on the muscles of the anus, perineum, and pelvic floor. Reinhale, letting the prana spread, and imagine that the area of the secret chakra is being nurtured. Turn your upper body toward your right knee and grasp that knee with both hands, using the knee as a stable support while you rotate your hips five times counterclockwise. Next, turn toward the left knee and grasp that knee with both hands, using it as a stable support while you rotate the hips five times in a clockwise direction. Bring the body back to the center and, grasping both knees, rotate the hips five times in a counterclockwise direction. Throughout the movements, the breath is held and the basket hold is maintained. Your focus remains at the secret chakra as you work to clear obstacles. At the end of the movement, exhale, imagining that obstacles are carried on the prana as it moves through the side channels and releases through the nostrils, dissolving into space. Imagine that the subtle prana moves in a downward direction as the secret chakra releases and opens. Repeat the exercise a total of three times.
After the final repetition, rest in open awareness with your focus in the secret chakra. Then briefly connect with each of the chakras you have worked with. Finally, rest your attention, eyes open, in uncontrived awareness. Without planning the future, dwelling on the past, or changing the present, simply abide as long as the experience remains fresh. To conclude, dedicate the merit of your practice for the benefit of all sentient beings.
~Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, "Tibetan Sound Healing"
Brief Instructions
The tsa lung movements work with breath retention, focus, movement, and awareness to clear physical, emotional, and conceptual blockages and obstacles so the practitioner can more easily recognize and rest (abide) in open awareness.
1. Assume a seated, upright posture.
2. Connect with the stillness of your body, the silence of your inner speech, and spaciousness of your mind. This is referred to as the inner refuge.
3. Bring to mind a challenge you face in your life or whatever you are experiencing at this moment. Draw the attention inward; notice any tension in your body, emotions, or any energetic disturbances. Become aware of any thinking. Simply allow or host your experience without judging or analyzing. Observe nakedly and directly.
4. Bring clear attention to the particular chakra being worked with.
5. Inhale, re-inhale, and focus breath, prana, and mind at the chakra while performing the appropriate tsa lung movement.
6. Release the breath through the chakra at the end of the movement. (Inhalation and exhalation are done through the nose.)
7. Repeat each exercise for a total of 3 or 5 times. At the end of the set, bring clear, open attention to the space within the chakra and rest the mind in the openness now available at that chakra. (If continuing, bring the focus to the next chakra and repeat steps 2 - 7.)
Upward-moving wind / Earth element / Throat and crown
Rotate the head 5 x’s counterclockwise and 5 x’s clockwise.
Exhale and guide the prana from the throat chakra up through the central channel and out through the crown chakra.
Life-force wind / Space element / Heart
Make a lasso motion with right arm then left arm (5 x’s each side).
Rotate the chest sidewise in a circular motion to the right, then to the left (5x’s each side). Exhale and guide the prana out through the heart chakra.
Fire-like wind / Fire element / Navel
Vase hold: Pull up the perineum and pelvic platform; press down with the diaphragm. Rotate navel area 5 x’s counterclockwise then 5 x’s clockwise.
Exhale and guide the prana out through the navel chakra.
Pervasive wind / Air element / Three channels and five chakras
Hold the breath pervasively, throughout the whole body.
Clap hands and rub them together, then massage your body; pull back on the bow to the right and then to the left (5 x’s each side).
Exhale and guide the prana out through the whole body.
Downward-clearing wind / Water element / Secret chakra
Cross right leg in front of left. Pull up the perineum and pelvic platform in the basket hold. Turn to the right knee and hold the knee; rotate 5 x’s counterclockwise.
Turn to left knee and hold the knee, rotate 5 x’s clockwise.
Come to center and hold both knees; rotate 5 x’s counterclockwise.
Exhale and release through the secret chakra, guiding the prana downward.
~Tenzin Wangyal
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