The Microcosmic Orbit is a specific and fundamental energy circuit that can be cultivated in order to clear blockages, promote free-flowing Qi and thereby minimise and even prevent diseases. The ancient technique of scanning the Microcosmic Orbit in order to sense imbalances and therein detect health problems early on is still popular among Qigong practitioners in China today.
Before we delve into definitions and explanations, let’s first review the bigger context of the TCM energy body. Practitioners of Tai Chi Qigong Shibashi are well aware of the 12 main bilateral meridians or channels through which Qi flows around the body. A particular internal organ is associated with each meridian and each has either a Yin or Yang quality.
The basic principles of Qigong practice allow us to optimise Qi flow, and each movement or stance is designed to cleanse and tonify specific channels, redress imbalances and contribute to the overall restoration and maintenance of health and wellbeing.
Diagram showing the pathways and directions of the 12 meridians and their corresponding organs
The Eight Extraordinary Vessels
As we deepen our practice and expand our knowledge of the energy body, we encounter the eight extraordinary vessels or Qi Jing Ba Mai (Qi here translates as extraordinary, Jing means essence, Ba is the number eight and Mai refers to vessels or movement in the vessels).
The earliest known reference to the extraordinary vessels is found in The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine (Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen) believed to have been compiled in the first century BCE, and the first known notable treatise is An Exposition on the Eight Extraordinary Vessels (Qi Jing Ba Mai Kao) by physician and acupuncturist Li Shizhen in the 16th century.
Also called the eight singular distribution vessels or eight extraordinary meridians, these are actually formed before the 12 main meridians to which they provide a framework of energetic and genetic support as we develop from zygote to adult.
They protect at a deep level, store excess blood and help us grow and reach our life potential. They are neither Yin or Yang, nor are they associated with organs, although they supply Qi and blood to the 12 meridians, and six of the vessels share certain acupoints with the 12 meridians.
The eight extraordinary vessels are believed to form at the moment of conception, when the ova and sperm fuse, forming the zygote and thereby igniting the spark of life (either in the kidneys or between the kidneys depending on the school of thought) and initiating Yin and Yang. Note the Ming Men (GV4) on the kidney belt means Gate of Life or Life Gate.
The Conception Vessel is supposedly the first extraordinary vessel to be stimulated after labour, involving the umbilicus, and following the direction of the baby lifted up to the mother’s breast. Thus it has a close connection with Yin Qi and is associated with women and healing women’s health issues.
The extraordinary vessels each have a distinct function or role to play throughout our development according to TCM life cycles: Seven years for women, eight years for men. Thus the eight vessels are extraordinary is that they are precious, remarkable and enigmatic.
The Microcosmic Orbit
While the theory underpinning the eight extraordinary vessels is fascinating and absorbing, in terms of our Shibashi practice, our focus is primarily with the central or midline Conception (CV) and Governing Vessels (GV). They form two inseparable branches of the same source that balance and harmonise Yin (Yin organs) and Yang (Yang organs) and which together form the Microcosmic Orbit.
The 28 points of the Governing Vessel/Du Mai (Image courtesy of Med Ali. Atlas of Acupuncture Points: Point Locations, 2007)
The Governing Vessel (Du Mai) has 28 points and begins midway between the tip of the coccyx bone and the anus (tail bone), Chang Qiang (GV1), and flows up the spine, passing the Ming Men (GV4), over the top of head, Bai Hui (GV20), down the midline of the face to the tip of the nose, Suliao (GV25), between the top two front teeth, Dui Duan (GV27) and ending with Yin Jiao (GV28) at the intersection of the gum and upper lip frenum (labial frenulum).
The 24 points of the Conception Vessel/Ren Mai (Image courtesy of Med Ali. Atlas of Acupuncture Points: Point Locations, 2007)
The Conception Vessel (Ren Mai) has 24 points, and it starts at the lowest point of the torso, Hui Yin (CV1), and flows up the front of the body, passing the navel Shen Que (CV8) and chest centre Shan Zhong (CV17) and ending below the middle of the lower lip, Cheng Jiang (CV24).
Hence, when getting into posture and achieving Wuji, we place the tip of our tongue gently behind the top teeth, resting on the top palette, thereby joining the Conception and Governing Vessels and completing the circuit.
However, at the lower part of the circuit, there is a physical gap between CV1 (lowest part of the torso) to GV1 (tailbone), and according to Zhu Wanfeng of Jiangxi University, China, it is believe that with Yi, Qi can easily find its way between these two points.
The Microcosmic Orbit in Practice
The concept of the Microcosmic Orbit is historically and culturally significant as it has been used as a Daoist meditative practice to cultivate Qi for hundreds of years and is still popular worldwide today. The name Microcosmic Orbit comes from the Daoist term for a complete orbiting of energy through the front and back body and refers to a closed circular circuit or path that can be continuously repeated and thus may never end.
Known in English as the Self Winding Wheel or Self Winding Wheel of the Law, utilising it involves focus and technique in order to purify the body physically, mentally and spiritually.
In Shibashi Set 2, the second movement is tellingly called Moving the Qi along the Microcosmic Orbit. The flow of breath and Qi cleanse as they circulate around the midline vessels, unblocking stagnant Qi, encouraging movement of lymph fluid, and strengthening the immune system.
As we practice the move, floating our prayer hands up from the Lower to the Middle Dantien and circling them up, out and forward, we can use our Yi to draw Qi up the spine along the Governing Vessel, over the top of the head and down the Conception Vessel, thus forming an outer energetic orbit that envelopes or mirrors the physical body.
Direction of Orbit flow
Moving Qi along the Microcosmic Orbit more commonly follows a path up the spine, over the head and down the front. While this direction is by far the most popular and is considered smoother, it is equally possible to reverse the flow: Up the front, over the head, and down the spine.
According to Michael Winn, the popular orbit (up the GV/spine) was documented by men and follows a fire path (heating), which suits men, but the latter direction (up the CV/front) – a water path (cooling) – is considered more flowing for women and especially beneficial for menopausal and post-menopausal women.
In fact, in Acupuncture charts, the channels of both these extraordinary vessels are depicted and annotated as starting in the lower torso. Clearly, a comprehensive system is essential when treating patients. But neither vessel is categorically Yin or Yang, so the directional flow is not fixed as with the 12 meridians when it comes to Qigong practice.
Giovanni Maciocia writes that an upward movement along spine suggests a Yang quality, adding that the Governing Vessel governs all Yang channels and is therefore called the Sea of the Yang Channels. Correspondingly, the Conception Vessel directs all Yin channels and is known as the Sea of the Yin Channels.
Winn suggests that whichever direction of flow you prefer is really up to you and what feels best for your body. He writes that both directions will help regulate and balance Yin and Yang in all the meridians as well as open up energetic communication between the organs and the endocrine glands along the orbit.
Inside the Microcosmic Orbit
Nei Gong (Inner Work) focuses on building up Qi in the Lower Dantien and using Yi to manage, guide and use that Qi for efficient and effective physical manifestations. We can use Nei Gong techniques to visualise, propel and sense our orbiting Qi and optimize the benefits.
You may enjoy this popular meditative practice shared by Zhu with the Confucius Institute at The University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Lampeter; first travelling up the GV/Du Mai (upward movement traveling up the spine and over the top of the head) and continuing down the CV/Ren Mai (downward movement along the central midline).
Focus on sensing Qi in one point at a time. Take your time. Repeat as desired:
Final Thoughts
Interestingly, when I first learned Set 1, long before my TCfBH days, I was taught that Twisting Waist and Swinging Arms followed the Microcosmic Orbit, and hence the insistence on starting the ‘swing’ with the hand at its naturally lowest point, between the hip and top of the thigh – in line with Hui Yin (CV1).
Theory is one thing, but in practice of course we observe the 70% rule, and, even if our physical orbits are smaller, we can use our Yi to channel our Qi flow around the extraordinary vessels that make up the Microcosmic Orbit and reap the benefits therein.
I hope this simplified explanation will help you enhance your Shibashi practice and encourage you to deepen and direct your focus inward.
In Shibashi Set 3, we are introduced to the third extraordinary vessel, known as the Penetrating Vessel (Chong Mai). More on that another time…
References
Esher, Barbra. Road Maps of Our Lives: Navigating the Eight Extraordinary Vessels. Massage Today. 29 May, 2009.
Maciocia, Giovanni. The Eight Extraordinary Vessels.
Med Ali. Atlas of Acupuncture Points: Point Locations, 2007.
The Channels of Acupuncture: Clinical Use of the Secondary Channels and Eight Extraordinary Vessels. London: Elsevier, Churchill Livingstone, 2006.
Wakefield, Mary Elizabeth and Angelo, Michel. The Eight Extraordinary Meridians: Our Genetic Imprinting. Acupuncture Today. December 2005.
Winn, Michael. Transforming Sexual Energy. Chapter 6 in Daoist Body Cultivation, edited by Livia Kohn. New Mexico: Three Pines Press, 2006.
Zhu, Wanfeng. Meridian Sensing Qigong lecture. Confucius Institute at The University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Lampeter. 7 September 2024. Confucius Institute Lampeter and Jiangxi University.
Image: A conception of the rings around the dwarf planet Quaoar in our deep solar system. Credit: ESA / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO. In Scientists find strange, ringed object way, way out in our solar system by Mark Kaufman (11 February 2023): https://mashable.com/article/ring-dwarf-planet-solar-system-discovery?test_uuid=01iI2GpryXngy77uIpA3Y4B&test_variant=a
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