Thank you so much for the additional details on the timing. These are the missing links in Chia’s instructions. I hope you don’t mind if I think out loud about this from the perspective of a neophyte, in the interest of the enlightening conversation happening here.
Simmering the jing with arousal seems the easy part. The cauldron to me has always felt like the 2nd chakra, aka the Sacral chakra or Belly chakra or Svadisthana in yoga. Like a ball of energy (intense warmth is maybe a description of the same feeling) just behind the navel and maybe 1-2 inches lower. Now I wonder if what I have felt there is actually the top domey lid and vent of the cauldron, and overheated chi vapor leaking out at that location before ever making it further along the MCO. This “energetic anatomy” of the cauldron is new to me.
The Jade Stalk here is both the heating element for the cauldron, and the lever for the release valve / vent! That is new info. You specifically used the word “stretch” of the Jade Stalk as well, in relation to its role in venting the chi vapors. This was a missing element in the instructions too. Since I was already feeling chi at the top of the caulrdon, I will have to experiment with whether a deft and gentle stretch of the Jade Stalk liberates a precise amount of chi at the sacral chakra, or moves it to the root chakra (just below the coccyx) or some combination. Or alternatively whether it sets the vent to “open” configuration and starts a flow of chi from the top of the cauldron.
Some of your previous posts have indicated the importance of working with a precise amount of chi vapor. So there may be some importance to opening the vent with the Jade Stalk, and quickly closing it with the BS muscle. It is still some mystery to me how the chi vapor gets from the cauldron vent to the root chakra area just below the coccyx. Perhaps automatically, perhaps a secondary effect of the well timed stretch of the Jade Stalk. However it gets there, if the chi vapor “cloud” is at least momentarily persistent (lasting at least a few seconds at the perineum) then it seems like the correct order of movements is open the vent (turning on chi vapor flow), move the chi, close the vent, dip the straw, suck the vapor, remove the straw, repeat. Alternatively, I will have to experiment with the possibility that sipping on the straw can only happen while the vent is open (IOW the chi vapor is not persistent and required a continuous flow).
The Iron Gate was something I previously considered to be at the root chakra. Closing the iron gate was something I associated with a strong and continuous flexure of the BS muscle. The books led me to believe it should be kept closed throughout the entire practice, and any opening of it would constitute a leak of chi from the perineum. This new information makes me consider two possibilities for the iron gate. One is keeping it closed almost all the time, except for the moment when we are opening the vent to allow some chi vapor out. In this interpretation, the BS muscle is contracted throughout the dipping of the coccyx, and the sacral pumping; and it is released only momentarily for the well-timed stretch of the Jade Stalk. In conjunction with the information in the books, it seems it may be important to immediately flex the BS after liberating some chi vapor to keep it from leaking through the root (anus). In which case we are talking about two vents. One at the top domed lid of the cauldron near the sacral chakra. And one at the bottom of the cauldron at the root chakra. Perhaps it is important to keep the BS flexed and Iron Gate closed only for the time that the chi vapor is at the perineum. IOW the BS flex is initiated once the chi is freed from the vent, and released once the chi is safely in the sacral pump, in which case the Iron Gate is closed about half the time.
Alternatively (2nd possibility of Iron Gate mechanics) one could open the vent using the Jade Stalk, move the chi to the perineum, close the vent using a brief flex of the BS muscle, and then continue on with dipping the straw and sacral pumping. In this interpretation there is only one vent (the one at the lid of the cauldron). And the vent is toggled between open and closed positions by brief but precise movements (Jade Stalk and BS muscle respectively). The BS muscle is not flexed continuously, or even half the time, but is flexed momentarily to toggled the vent closed and control the amount of chi that is released. This interpretation doesn’t quite fit with the books and all the talk of chi escaping from the root chakra. But may be worth testing.
To the wasp sting, sacral pump, and its movements in relation to all the above timings. I spent a couple hours today going over sacral anatomy. I discovered 3 different movement types for the sacrum and tailbone:
One is movement of the sacrococcygeal joint. This is an independent movement of the last vertebrae or two of the tailbone, using the muscles of the pelvic floor. Much like moving only the last knuckle of the finger joint, except for the spine. It is a very small movement of the tailbone ONLY, and no other part of the pelvis needs to move with it. My understanding is that this is definitely a part of the movement of the Wasp Sting maneuver. And it is possibly the entire movement of the wasp sting maneuver.
Two is movement of the sacroiliac joint. The joining of sacrum to the ilium (the point where base of the spine and the hip bones join together). The sacrum can move independently of the hips by about 2 degrees of rotation (called nutation and counter-nutation). Currently I’m not sure whether this is part of the Wasp Sting, or the Sacral Pump, or possibly both. If both, then the counter-nutation of the sacrum would be part of the wasp sting (moving the tailbone further into the pelvic cavity) and the nutation would be part of the sacral pump (moving the tailbone backward “out” of the pelvic cavity).
These first two movements actually move the coccyx forward within the pelvic cavity, and my instinct is that a combination of the two movements constitutes the wasp sting maneuver. Whether or not the coccyx is moved back before or after the sacral pump is going is another thing to experiment on.
The third movement is pelvic tilt, which moves the tailbone and sacrum forward and backward in space, but not relative to the pelvis. To further confound this already complex series of motions in SKF, the relation of the lower spine to the pelvis is actually the primary determinant of nutation and counter-nutation as well. IOW while the sacroiliac joint CAN move independently of the pelvic tilt, it also moves dependently on the lower spine and pelvic tilt. When the lower spine is straightened (decrease in lordosis), counter-nutation occurs, and the coccyx moved further into the pelvic cavity. When the lower spine is arched (increase in lordosis) nutation of the sacrum occurs, and the coccyx is moved backward. So this third movement could also be involved in the wasp sting maneuver in the sense that it could be the method by which counter-nutation is achieved.
In the books, and with this new information, the sacral pump sounds a lot like nutation of the sacrum by way of increasing spinal lordosis (which was decreased as part of the wasp sting maneuver) but I will have to experiment a lot to verify this. One thing I wonder about is whether this movement is to be executed only once per “cycle” of chi movement. IOW, after the wasp sting, is only one nutation of the sacrum required, or is it kind of moved back and forth (nutated and counter-nutated repeatedly) until the chi has been sufficiently sucked up the straw.
My best interpretation of the whole thing, putting it altogether, is getting to the right arousal level, simmering the jing, gently stretching the Jade Stalk to release an appropriate amount of chi vapor from the top vent of the cauldron, somehow moving the vapor to the perineum, strongly flexing the BS to close the Iron Gate and prevent the chi vapor from leaking from the bottom of the cauldron, flexing the sacrococcygeal joint while counter-nutating the sacrum by means of moving the lower spine - both in order to move the coccyx closer to the perineum and penetrate the chi cloud there, relaxing the sacrococcygeal joint and nutating the sacrum to move the now chi-infused coccyx away from the perineum and simultaneously pump the chi above the sacrum into the lumbar spine, and releasing the BS muscle now that the chi is safely away from the lower cauldron vent - in order to allow more chi to be vented off the cauldron. Then repeating the whole cycle in periods of about 10 seconds each.
Sounds easy ;)
Many parts I’m still unsure of, but these two excellent posts have vaulted me from “shooting in the dark” to making educated guesses, having a plan, and many ideas to test out.
Again, much thanks to you xeno.
BD