Before Earth can usefully develop my energy I must possess a well-defined centre of gravity. This is the dantien (belly) about which my physicality gathers. Mind in dantien – the first instruction in Taiji – aims to develop this centre, not just as an abstract point some distance from the head, but as a real physical entity: a heavy stone in the belly that the Earth pulls strongly when I manage to relax the muscles that surround it. The pull of gravity on my dantien keeps me grounded, and stimulates the higher centres to open up and operate:

• solar plexus (power and creativity) 
• heart (affection and love) 
• thymus (passion, desire and fighting spirit) 
• throat (expression and joy) 
• eyes (vision and foresight) 
• crown (higher energies). 

Without an athletic body, firmly bound to the Earth, I can never be full and free.