4.1 Channel release
Under the name channel release are grouped a number of
techniques aiming at awakening and cleansing the body of energy,
or etheric body. The etheric energy, or life force, is identical to
the prāṇa of the Indian tradition and the qi of traditional Chinese
medicine. Our first purpose will be to reach a tangible perception
of this energy.
Whilst circulating all over the etheric body, the life force follows
certain lines of energy, called ‘meridians’ in Chinese medicine and
nāḍī in Sanskrit. We will work on some of these, endeavouring to
feel the flow of energy along them.
A more advanced, but essential stage will be to learn to move the
energy consciously in these channels.
As this capacity develops, the student will be able to correct
several health problems. It will become obvious that the proper
functioning of the physical body depends to a great extent on the
right flow and balance of the circulations of the etheric body.
As the etheric body gains in strength through these practices, it
acquires a greater resistance to negative energies. And when an
undesirable energy is perceived in one of the channels, it becomes
possible to expel it consciously, the same way as a pebble can be
moved out of a hose by acting on the flow of water. Such a skill
secures a high level of energetic protection and will prove to be a
great help to all those involved in self-transformation or healing.
At a later stage, inner alchemy deals with the opening of the most
essential of all energy channels, located in the centre of the body.
This central channel ascends from the root of the trunk (the
perineum, between the anus and the external genital organs) to the
top of the head and above. It is the thunderwand, the path of the
serpent-fire of the western esoteric tradition, identical to the
suṣumnā of Kundalini-yoga. One of the purposes of channel release
is to prepare you for the work on this master channel. Channel
release trains you to move the etheric energy consciously.
Therefore, instead of having to ‘imagine’ a flow in the
thunderwand, you will be able to implement a proper circulation
of energy.
4.2 Connected shaking
Stage 1: shaking
Sit with your back straight, preferably on a mat on the floor,
possibly in a chair.
If on a chair, avoid leaning back against it.
Keep your eyes closed throughout the exercise.
Shake your hands quickly and vigorously for 10 to 20 seconds.
Connected shaking
Then remain motionless with your palms upwards. To achieve
maximum effect, avoid resting your hands on your knees or the
arms of a chair (see next figure).
Become aware of the vibration in your hands.
Stage 2: vibration in the eye, vibration in the hands
Repeat stage 1: shake your hands, then
become motionless with the palms
upwards.
Become aware of the vibration in the
hands.
Become aware of the vibration in the eye
(between the eyebrows.)
Focus for a few seconds on the vibration
in the eye. Then become aware again of
the vibration in the hands for a few
seconds. Then, vibration in the eye again...
Go from one to the other several times.
Then become aware of the vibration between the eyebrows and in
the hands at the same time.
Stage 3: friction
Repeat stage 1: shake your hands for 10 to 20 seconds. Then remain
motionless with your eyes closed, palms upwards. Become aware of
the vibration in the eye and in the hands at the same time. Remain
in this perception for 1 minute.
Then start breathing with the throat friction, as described in
Chapter 2. Connect the friction with the vibration in both the eye
and the hands. Continue the practice for 1 or 2 minutes. Watch
the quality of the vibration change.
Tips
• A whole range of experiences can result from this practice. An
essential point is to realise that a modification, in both the hands
and the eye, occurs as soon as you start the friction. The vibration
becomes more intense, more tangible, and at the same time its
quality becomes more subtle.
• The throat friction not only intensifies the vibration, it also
helps connect the eye with the centres of energy in the palms of
the hands. A triangle of energy can often be felt, linking the eye
and the palms.
Stage 4: connecting
Shake the hands for a few seconds. Then remain motionless with
your palms upwards.
Feel the vibration in the eye and the vibration in the hands.
Start breathing with the throat friction. Connect the friction
with the vibration in the eye and the hands. Watch the changes in
the vibration that automatically take place due to the friction.
Then try to feel the connection between the hands and the eye.
Use the throat friction to amplify this connection.
What exactly can you feel between your hands and your eye?
Apart from feeling, can you ‘see’ anything (with your eyes closed)?
How does the energy in your hands change as you intensify the
connection with your eye?
Tips and traps
• The perception of energy linkage between eye and hands is often
accompanied by the perception of a triangle of light. At a more
advanced stage of the training, this triangle of light will play an
important role in certain key practices of inner alchemy.
• Please remember our basic rule: no imagination, no visualisation.
Flow with what comes. Develop what you have, don't make
anything up. If you can only feel a slight tingling in your hands,
work at developing it with the friction and by regularly
implementing the other techniques of the book.
• As you go on practising this exercise and the following ones, it
will appear that they create a gradual refinement of what flows`
into your hands. The more the vibration in the hands is connected
with the awareness in the eye, the more it will become subtle and
endowed with healing qualities. This is a first step in the
development of the hands of a healer.
4.3 Connected rubbing
Sit with your back straight.
Vigorously rub your hands together for up to 20 seconds, or more.
Remain motionless with your palms upwards. Spend a few seconds
observing the quality of vibration in your hands and in your eye.
Then start breathing with the throat friction. Connect it to the
vibration in your hands and in your eye. Be aware of the subtle
changes that take place in the vibration of the hands due to the
friction.
Connect the vibration in the eye with the vibration in the palms.
Use the throat friction to intensify this connection. Sense the
vibration in the hands becoming more and more refined.
Tips
• Apart from the work on perception, those who are involved in
massage or any form of healing with hands will benefit from
implementing this exercise at the beginning of their sessions.
• While practising channel release, always pay attention to the
fact that the quality of energy that flows through your hands
depends on the quality of the vibration in your eye, and on the
connection between the two. The more subtle the vibration in your
eye, the more refined the energy flowing in your hands. A
powerful modality of healing, both for yourself and for your
clients, consists of tuning into the highest quality of vibration in
your eye and transmitting it through your hands.
4.4 Vibration = etheric
Fundamentally, the etheric is the layer of the vibration: whenever
you feel the vibration, you feel the etheric. This statement is too
simple to be completely true, and later on you may discern certain
etheric frequencies of light or astral vibration. But in the
beginning, the equation: ‘vibration = etheric’ constitutes an
excellent reference to make sense of your experiences. For
instance, feeling vibration in your hands indicates that the etheric
life force is set in motion in the hands. Feeling vibration between
the eyebrows indicates that the etheric layer of the third eye is
activated... and so on, for any body part, or even outside the limits
of your body. For the etheric not only permeates the physical
body, it also extends beyond it, in proportions that may vary
according to different inner factors.
When the vibration in your hands or elsewhere seems to become
more subtle, it indicates that you are getting in touch with deeper
and more subtle layers of the etheric body.
In the beginning, we use physical stimulation to awaken the
perception of the etheric vibration. Later on you will be able to
get the same vibration without rubbing or using any other
physical stimulation. The vibration will come from inside.
I would therefore suggest that in these first stages of practice you
do not worry too much as to whether your vibration is physical or
etheric, or imaginary. Trust your experience. A very direct proof
of the non-physical nature of the vibration would be to cut off
your physical hand and to realise that you are still feeling the
same vibration, as in the phantom limb syndrome in amputees.
Other indications of the non-physical nature of this vibration will
be that you will feel it in all sorts of places in your body, without
any rubbing or any form of physical stimulation. You will even
feel it beyond the limits of your physical body, first around you
and then in more and more distant objects. The perception of the
etheric vibration will then have become completely separated from
any physical sensation.
In any case, please remember that in our approach there is nothing
to believe (and therefore nothing to doubt either). What matters is
not what you believe but what you perceive. Our constant focus is
on direct experience. Learn to perceive this vibrating energy, and
then decide how you want to understand it.
• Have you noticed that when you awaken the vibration in the
palms of the hands, an intensification of the vibration in the eye
seems to occur simultaneously? The vibration in the eye seems to
become more tangible or denser, as if on a faster frequency;
anyway it is more clearly perceived. More on this important effect
at the beginning of Chapter 6.
4.5 General advice concerning the work on the meridians
• Practise as if you were inventing acupuncture. The method of
channel release gives you all the elements to find the real location
of the circulations of etheric energy in your body. Do not take for
granted any of the traditional anatomical pathways of the
meridians. Anyway, all ancient Chinese books do not agree about
the precise location of various particular branches. The map of the
etheric body, as will be used in the third millennium, is still to be
plotted. Why not by you?
• For rubbing, use the bridge of the palm, on the other side of
the knuckles. A line of energy can actually be felt along the
mounts beneath the knuckles, at the base of the fingers. Make
your hand flat and firm. Apply this line onto the line of the
meridian that you want to stimulate and move to and fro along
the line, operating a gentle but firm rubbing.
The bridge of the palm
• Remember that whenever you deal with energy, and especially
in the beginning, there are days when it seems much more
difficult to reach the perception of the vibration. For instance
there are days when you are projected into the purple space in
meditation, but you don't feel much vibration (in particular
around the New Moon). Other days, it is just the opposite – lots of
vibration but no space. And sometimes you won't feel anything at
all. That is the normal course of the process. In the beginning,
perceptions are not at all under your control. They come when you
don't expect them, they disappear without reason.
Continue the practices regularly and after a few months you will
just have to go into your eye and tune in to generate an immediate
flow of vibration. But even once a fair level of mastery has been
reached, the vibration remains subject to variations from one day
to the next and even during the same day.
• In the case of cancer, many therapists advise against any form
of massage because it might facilitate a spreading of the disease.
For some, massage even remains contraindicated for as long as five
years after the last surgical operation, or the last treatment that
ended the cancer, even if the patient is completely healed. If you
share this view, it is very possible to implement channel release
without rubbing, just by moving the tips of your fingers very
lightly along the meridians, as described in section 6.4.
• In this chapter, the acupuncture meridians will be referred to
by the name of a corresponding organ, as frequently found in
acupuncture literature. Yet it can never be emphasized enough how
misleading these names are and what great misunderstandings they
can create. The meridian of the gallbladder, for instance, has a
number of distinct functions and connects with several body
parts, from the eye and the ear to the ankle, apart from passing
through the gallbladder. So the term ‘gallbladder’ does not
summarise the function of the meridian at all. If this name is
used, it is because it is simpler to memorise than the proper
Chinese name, zu shao yang (literally: ‘middle yang of the foot’).
4.6 Shou jue yin, ‘Heart Constrictor Meridian’
The part of the Heart Constrictor Meridian that we are going to
stimulate is a line that starts at the root of the palm and goes
straight up the middle of the forearm to the tendon of the biceps
at the line of the elbow, and then straight up the middle of the
biceps.
Sit in a meditation position. If you are on a chair, don't prop
against its back. Keep your eyes closed throughout the exercise.
Rub your hands for a few seconds and repeat practice 4.3. Remain
motionless with your palms upwards. Become aware of the
vibration in your eye and in your hands.
Rub along the line of the meridian with the bridge of the palm
(the mounts beneath the knuckles) as described in section 4.5.
Then stop and become motionless, with your
palms upwards.
Become aware of the vibration along the line.
After a few seconds, resume the throat
friction and connect it with the vibration in
the meridian. Spend half a minute or more
building up the vibration along the line.
Then become aware in the eye at the same
time, so you connect the throat friction, the
vibration in the eye and the vibration in the
line. Continue for about 1 minute.
Next become aware of the hand on the same
arm. Even though you have not applied any
physical stimulation to this area, could you
feel the extension of the line of energy in
the hand? To which finger does the path of the meridian extend?
Then become aware in the shoulder and the chest. Where does the
line of energy go in these parts of the body? Could you also feel it
in any of your organs?
Stop everything and remain ‘just aware’ for a few seconds.
Repeat the same sequence with the same meridian on the other
arm.
Snap the fingers of the right hand and open the eyes.
4.7 Shou shao yin, ‘Heart Meridian’
The part of the meridian that we are
looking for starts at the root of the palm
of the hand, on the inner side. If you
explore with your fingers, you will find a
little round bone, called the pisiform
because it has the form of a pea.
Then slightly contract your biceps, and
you will find another point of this
meridian about 1 centimetre inside the
tendon of the biceps, just at the line of
the elbow. (Acupuncture points often give
the feeling of a hole under your fingers,
like a depression.) You just have to draw a
line from the pisiform to this point and
you have the part of the Heart Meridian
that circulates on the forearm.
For the part on the upper arm, start from our point on the elbow
and go up, following a depression on the inner side of the biceps
like a little gutter. Note that this small depression is not always
present and that it is easier to find in men than in women.
If you are not too sure of the location, that does not matter very
much. Just follow the indications shown by the figure and the
line will reveal itself as your perception becomes clearer.
Repeat the practice we described in section 4.6, this time with the
Heart Meridian instead of the Heart Constrictor Meridian.
4.8 Shou tai yin, ‘Lung Meridian’
We now repeat the same practice, but on the Lung Meridian.
The fraction of the Lung Meridian that we are going to rub starts
at the root of the palm of the hand in the depression where it is
common to take the pulse, on the radial artery.
Another point is located at the line of the
elbow, outside the tendon of the biceps. You
can gently contract your biceps to feel the
tendon. The forearm part of the Lung
Meridian follows a straight line from the
pulse area to this point on the elbow.
Then go on up the arm following a sort of
depression on the external side of the biceps.
If the muscles of your arm are clearly
delineated, you will find a sort of furrow
where the line is. (If you are a woman, first
look on a male friend of yours. It's much
easier to find.) But again, you just need to
have a vague idea of where to rub, as shown
on the figure.
Anyway, the location of a meridian should never be taken for
granted. The descriptions in books should be regarded as rough
indications only. It is through your own perception of energy, and
nothing else, that certitude can arise as to the real path of a
meridian. The best attitude is therefore to rub slightly different
lines in the area until you find the one that corresponds to the
clearest feeling of circulation. If you practise, practise, practise...
the initial vagueness will soon be dispelled, leaving little doubt as
to the whereabouts of these simple circulations.
Chapter 4 – Channel Release: Let It Flow!
59
4.9 More details on the paths of the meridians
(Better not read this section until you have determined for
yourself the path of the meridians in the hand and fingers.)
Acupuncture describes the Heart Constrictor Meridian as ending at
the tip of the middle finger (the one between the index and the
ring finger). It may well happen that you feel a tingling in the
ring finger too, as the Heart Constrictor Meridian is said to be
coupled and to exchange energy with the Triple Warmer Meridian
that circulates on the ring finger.
The Heart Meridian is said to end up at the tip of the little finger.
(The Small Intestine Meridian, coupled with the Heart Meridian,
also circulates at the tip of the little finger.)
The Lung Meridian is said to terminate at the tip of the thumb.
While working on the Lung Meridian, it is not uncommon to feel
vibration moving in the index finger too, related to the Large
Intestine Meridian, for there are intense exchanges of energy
between these two channels.
Tips, tricks and traps
• If this is not what you've felt, don't worry, for after all you
might be right! (Yet I suggest you go on practising for a while
before you make up your mind.) It is the privilege of the seers to
be able to bring everything into question. For ultimately, direct
perception is always superior to what is written in a book or
copied from another book. Maybe also, the traditional cliche of the
meridians as inflexible pipes is not so accurate. You will rather
perceive them as ‘rivers of breath’ or flows of vibration that can
sometimes deviate slightly in one direction or another. Once more,
my view is that the essential still has to be discovered, as far as
the etheric body is concerned.
4.10 The different levels of perception of energy
circulations
The first level is to perceive the vibration along the line you have
rubbed and to realise that this vibration is of the same nature as
the one in your eye (between the eyebrows).
The second level is to perceive a flow of energy, meaning a
circulation of the vibration along the meridian. It can either move
upwards towards the shoulder or downwards towards the hand. By
using the throat friction and the connection with the eye, you
will be able to gradually intensify this flow.
The third level is to become able to move the energy consciously
along the line. This function has to be developed out of nearly
nothing, like when a muscle has become atrophied because it has
not been working for a long period and it needs to be set into
motion again.
Once awakened, the experience is similar to that of little hands of
energy along the meridian. The ‘little hands’ contract swiftly and
they squeeze the energy into movement, a bit like you squeeze
toothpaste out of a tube. The whole thing is quite similar to the
peristaltic contractions of the digestive tract (but much quicker)
or the contraction of the muscles of the arteries that actively
move the blood. But in the meridians, this takes place on the level
of the etheric body, not the physical.
As we are dealing with the etheric, you will mainly be feeling
vibration. But it may happen that you get some visual experiences
of light flowing in the meridian as well. Once you start the
techniques on seeing, described in Chapters 5 and 7, you can add
the triple process of vision to the work on the circulations of
etheric energy.
Tips, tricks and traps
• What if you feel the energy in a meridian more on one side
than in its equivalent on the other side of the body? As always
when you deal with energy, there are fluctuations. If this
experience happens only once and does not come back, it does not
mean anything at all.
It is only if you can repeatedly feel the same imbalance over a
period of time that it becomes significant. If this is the case, it
means that something is blocked in the line and the flow has to be
restored, so you should practise more on this meridian until an
equal flow can be reached. It is rather encouraging, because it gives
you the opportunity to correct a blockage before it turns into a
physical problem. Energetic medicines often play a potent role in
the prevention of health disorders. Interestingly enough, in
ancient China one used to pay one's doctor as long as one was
healthy and stop paying as soon as one fell sick.
If you feel too many imbalances in your energy flows, it might be
a good idea to discuss the situation with an acupuncturist.
• Should the energy in the meridians move upwards or
downwards? In courses given at the Clairvision School, I have had
the opportunity to share the techniques of channel release with a
number of people who had no knowledge of the theory of the
meridians as developed by traditional Chinese medicine. I was
therefore able to observe the direction of the natural circulations
of energy, innocently discovered by the students. I must say that
what I have seen does not confirm the traditional theory of the
circulations in the meridians. In acupuncture, it is said that out of
the twelve principal meridians, six circulate the energy from the
head to the extremities (feet and hands) and six from the
extremities to the head. However, I have found that when you
teach a group how to perceive energy, the great majority tend to
feel it moving systematically upwards towards the head, whatever
channel they may be dealing with.
My advice is to trust your experience and to encourage the flow of
vibration that feels natural to you. It does not matter if the
energy does not always flow in the same direction – energy is a
whimsical principle, which is part of its beauty. Superior health
comes from harmony with the natural flows, not from
establishing a dictatorship of energies.
4.11 Practice
Implement channel release on the Heart Constrictor Meridian, as in
practice 4.6. Rub both arms, one straight after the other, but this
time once you finish rubbing, hold your arms upwards (as if you
were trying to reach the ceiling).
Is the direction of the circulation the same as before?
Repeat the same exercise with the Lung Meridian, then with the
Heart Meridian.
Tips
• If you can, repeat the same exercise while in a shoulder-stand,
with your arms up.
• For your information, I have indicated what acupuncture says
about the direction of the flows of the meridians in the note at
the end of this chapter. However, I would suggest you do not look
at it until you have reached your own perception of the flows.
4.12 Releasing negative energies
The technique that we are now going to describe is essential, and
designed to be frequently implemented. Its purpose is to release
negative energies.
The physical body is made of foodstuff, water, and what we
extract from the air, meaning physical elements taken from our
physical environment. Similarly, the etheric body is built of
materials extracted from our etheric environment.
Just as some foods or substances may be toxic to the physical
body, some etheric energies are noxious to the etheric body. In the
chapters on earth lines and on protection, we will look at how
modern life tends to create an accumulation of those toxic energies
in our environment, making it more and more vital to gain the
skills to release them from your system.
Practice
Turn on a tap of cold water. Direct your awareness to the flow of
running water. Tune into it, feel its qualities. Let the water run
down the inside of your arm from above the line of the elbow, if
the sink is deep enough. Be really aware and focussed, as if
performing an important action, and tune into the flow. Let all
the negative energies be released out of your forearm into the
running water. Continue for a good half minute.
Then repeat the same practice on the posterior side of the
forearm. The more you tune into the flow of running water, the
more negative energies you can release.
Repeat the practice on both sides of the other arm.
Tips, tricks and traps
• Although the practice may seem very
simple, it is vital. If you do it a few times a
day, and in full awareness, a new function will
quickly develop: etheric excretion. You will
clearly perceive that some undesirable energies
are expelled into the flow of water, and you
will feel better in your etheric body, exactly
as a constipated person feels better after
passing stools.
Excretion is a function as essential to life as
ingestion. One of the discoveries you are going
to make as you open your perception is that a
significant proportion of the population is
‘etherically constipated’: unable to release
negative energies. Etheric excretion should happen automatically,
without us having to think about it. But somehow we came to lose
this function, and now we have to work at regaining it
consciously.
The accumulation of negative energies in the etheric body of the
majority of the population contributes greatly to the general
‘malaise’ and the level of neurosis of the modern world.
• If you are living in a cold country, there is no reason why you
should not mix some warm water with the cold. If the water is too
cold, it makes it more difficult to open your etheric.
• If you have to get rid of something particularly noxious in your
hands, you can potentize the process by alternating cold and hot
water.
• In the chapters dealing with protection, you will read how one
can intensify the release effect by exhaling with open mouth and
throat friction while excreting unwanted vibrations.
• Think of implementing this exercise with the running water:
– each time you come home
– each time you have the feeling of having a ‘dirty’ energy in
your hands
– after giving a massage or a therapy session of any kind
– after completing a session on your computer, or any other gear
that has a lot of static electricity attached to it
– after dowsing earth lines (see Chapter 12)
– after practising channel release
– before meditation, not after. (The same applies to showers, one
of the reasons being that meditation generates a valuable
internalization of your energies. Running water, on the other
hand, rather tends to attract the energy towards the exterior, just
under the skin, thereby counteracting the benefits of your
meditation. So showers and baths are better taken before you
meditate than after.)
– before going to bed
– whenever else it feels appropriate
• As you become more capable of releasing negative energies into
the water, you can implement the same process while washing up,
taking a shower, bathing in a river or the ocean. Waterfalls in
particular have a spectacular etheric vibration.
A note on the circulations of the meridians
The Heart Constrictor, Heart and Lung Meridians are described by
the acupuncture tradition as flowing ‘downwards’, meaning from
the trunk to the hand. But the Chinese archetypal man is
represented with his arms upwards, the hands above the head. So
the energy of these three meridians moves towards the sky in the
Chinese pattern.
According to acupuncture, the direction of the flow remains the
same whether you hold your hands up or not.
