Module Three Navigation:
Teaching Notes | Practice Materials
Module 3: Teaching Notes
The teachings in this section come directly from Christina Pratt’s course Energy Body Mastery at the Last Mask Center, and are shared here with her permission.
Cultivating the Endless Resources Available to You
Central Channel
Your central channel includes three. components:
(1) Your grounding cord
(2) The central column of energy that connects all of your energy centers
(3) The extension of your energy up to the Highest Power.
You can use spiritual images for your Highest Power if that has real resonance for you. If not, or as an alternative, feel free to work with elements of Nature: the sun, the full moon, or even the stars. The Highest Power is the Source of Life.
The following images are courtesy of Mantak Chia’s books and the Universal Healing Tao Center
The Microcosmic Orbit
This image illustrates the microcosmic orbit as a living cycle of energy moving through the body. For our Module 2 purposes, this image helps us visualize the function of the Central Channel that runs through our center and connects us to the Earth below and the Highest Power of the Universe / Source of Life above. we can see the Earth energy spiraling upward through the central channel and the golden energy from above radiating down into our crown.
The red and blue lines around the body show the Ren and Du meridians, which help illustrate how energy circulates through us. Healthy energy is not stagnant. It circulates.
Together, these channels illustrate that we are not isolated beings, but part of a greater flow of life moving through the body, the Earth, and the cosmos. The image points to the deeper truth that our energy is always in relationship — grounded below, open above, and continually moving through the center of our being.
The Microcosmic Orbit &
the Three Hearts
This version of the Microcosmic Orbit again shows us the circulation of energy through the Ren and Du meridians. And this image adds the three tiens or three heart spaces. These are the primary qi/power centers along the Central Channel in Taoism and many systems of shamanism.
The Dantian is the “heart of the Earth” and it connects us to the Earth and Nature. It is the lower tien and is located at the root and procreative energy centers.
The Zhongmai is the “heart of the heart” and it connects us to humanity and life. It is the middle tien and it corresponds spacially to our heart energy center.
The Niwan is the “heart of the universe/heavens” and it connects us to the All That Is. It is the upper tien and it corresponds spacially to our 6th energy center area of our mind.
Truth Cord
The Truth Cord is a reliable source of information because it is bigger than our personal truth. It runs through the central channel, connecting the Highest Power above with the center of the Earth below, and helps us orient to truth beyond preference, fear, or attachment.
Truth Cord Mantra
“My Truth Cord resonates with the truth no matter the source, no matter whether or not I like the truth, and no matter the ramifications of the truth on my life.”
The Truth Cord is not about what feels convenient, familiar, or comforting. It is about learning to recognize and trust what is True.
Over time, we build a relationship with the Truth Cord by bringing things to it, listening for its response, and allowing it to refine our discernment. The more consistently we practice, the more we can rely on it as a guide for clear perception and honest relationship.
Module 3: Practice Materials
Guidance for At-Home Practice: Module 2
(1) Qigong —> (2) Visualization Practices —> (3) Reflect
Begin with your qigong to stir the energy that you intend to work with. Then sit for your grounding visualization, then continue up to create and cultivate your connection to the Sky/Divine/Highest Power.
As you settle on images, then practice. From your grounding cord extend your energy up, from the belly to the heart to the mind, until you are moving up out of the crown of your head. Continue up through the sky, the atmosphere, and into the cosmos. Connect with your sense of the Highest Power there. Anchor your energy firmly there.
Once you have your image, send the qi you cultivated from your qigong practice into the image. Consider feeling into experiencing the Highest Power as some sort of radiant energy that offers endless:
Blessing
Protection
Benevolence of the universe
Divine Light and its radiance
Also practice:
Working with Radiant Light
Cultivating Your Truth Cord
Union of the 3 Hearts
Moving Out of Judgment About What You Are Experiencing
You will find more detailed guidance on these practices in the Module 2 Practice Guidance Handout below.
Engage with the reflection questions. Write down what you notice from your visualization and reflection. For now we are just noticing - with curiosity and openness, without any judgment or thoughts about right or wrong.
Boundaries Around Sharing These Practices
All of the materials in this course are offered for your personal use within Root & Return. Please keep the practices, recordings, and written teachings inside this course container, and do not share links, downloads, or copies with others.
This is especially important for the Qigong videos. These forms come through a specific qigong lineage, and are shared here with permission from Christina Pratt and the qigong lineage she was trained in. Honoring their request that these teachings stay within this course is part of how we respect the lineage and the agreements that make this work possible.
Start every daily practice session with qigong. Use this video to practice the forms for cultivating boundaries for Module 3.
Work with the video as often as needed until you can do the forms on your own daily.
After stirring your energy with qigong, move into visualization. Meet your grounding cord, learn how to tend it, and build a grounded foundation that can actually hold change.
Work with this visualization as often as needed until you can do the practice on your own daily.
Visualization for Cutting Cords on Grounding Cord (Audio)
Reflection
Questions
Explore your grounding cord for corded attachments and learn how to release codependent energies as you begin to come back to yourself.
Try this visualization at least once and return to it as needed.
Explore prompts to help you track your inner experience, integrate this module’s teachings, and notice what’s asking for your attention.
Supplemental
Basic Concepts
Review these basic principles with curiosity and openness. Please take them as a hypothesis for the duration of the course.
Notice your internal response to each principle and take it as your baseline. Then at the end of the course you can review them again to notice if anything has shifted.
After stirring your energy with qigong, move into visualization. Meet your grounding cord, learn how to tend it, and build a grounded foundation that can actually hold change.
Work with this visualization as often as needed until you can do the practice on your own daily.
Supplemental
Supplemental
Explore your grounding cord for corded attachments and learn how to release codependent energies as you begin to come back to yourself.
Try this visualization at least once and return to it as needed.
Explore prompts to help you track your inner experience, integrate this module’s teachings, and notice what’s asking for your attention.
Visualization for Grounding (Audio)
Qigong Forms for Boundaries (Video)
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