Whether you’re a periodic or regular reader of this blog, you are likely, at least conceptually, familiar with Hara Development and Chosei Zen’s body-based approach to training. Today, I want to introduce you to Hanna Somatics, a neuromuscular education tool that Kushner Roshi and I are using more frequently in Hara Development. I will provide some background about the methodology and explain why I find it to be such a powerful support for Zen training and Hara Development. 

My last two posts, which focused on what Shakyamuni Buddha said about hara breathing, generated some interesting comments from readers. My main point in those posts was that the Buddha didn’t mention hara breathing at all. Further, he didn’t say anything about the abdomen. Instead, his instructions involved observing, but not manipulating or training, the breath. 

In my previous post, I started to describe my journey to hara development. I explored how hara development, as a part of Rinzai Zen training, transforms the whole person (physically, psychologically, and spiritually). My introduction was through learning to perform hara breathing physically. During this phase of development, I stumbled upon an experience that was quite powerful, but my lack of psychological/spiritual capacity meant I couldn’t fully integrate it.  

One of the things we had hoped for when we recently redesigned this blog was that the new format would encourage readers to send us comments about the posts. It seems to be working because we received several thoughtful replies to the last post, "What did the Buddha have to say about Hara Breathing?" I want to take this opportunity to respond to one of them.

Several years ago, a Zen master in a different, non-Japanese lineage asked me what I thought of Anapanasati Sutra. He was surprised when I told him I had never heard of it. He explained that it was the sutra in which the Buddha gave instructions on breathing during meditation and that it had a direct relevance to hara development. This information took me aback. In all the research I had done on hara development, the sutra was off my radar. After that first mention, I came across other references to it.

Welcome to the new Hara Development blog! We are excited to launch this updated version, which allows us to engage more actively with our fellow “hara-seekers.” Please check out the new Q & A page and submit your questions via our Contact page, and don’t forget to click on the subscribe button to receive notifications about new posts and content.

In my early days as a Zen student, the jiki jitsu (person leading sitting) often yelled, “Sit hard.” This usually occurred when someone (or everyone) was struggling with pain or fatigue.

In our last post, I mentioned that part of the evolution in how I teach hara development is that I now emphasize the role of inhalation, especially for beginners. This emphasis goes with my stressing relaxation over tension, an evolution I have discussed previously. I'll begin by putting this in context.

Three years. That’s how long it’s been since my last post. At that time, I thought I had provided enough theoretical background and exercises to give people a foundation for their hara development regimens. During the hiatus, I continued to learn more about hara development, and my approach has evolved.

A reader asked me recently to say more about the three dantian. I touched on this topic in my second blog post, but this request gave me an incentive to elaborate on it.I'll begin by defining terms. The Chinese characters for dantian are 丹田.

It has been quite a while since I posted to this blog. Over that time, I have received numerous inquiries from readers which have led to very productive email exchanges. This has given me an idea: I would like to invite you all to submit questions and/or suggest topics for future posts.

My Zen teacher was a musician and he frequently used examples from music to illustrate Zen principles. He often said that Zen training was like learning to play a musical instrument. He would describe what it was like to give a young child an instrument, say a violin. At the beginning, they would make horrible, screeching noises. But, with practice, their tone would start to become mellower and the sounds they made would start to resemble music.

Students frequently ask me whether they should be doing hara breathing all the time. Briefly, the answer is “yes”; however, there are some nuances that are worth discussing here.

I have once again been involved in other projects that have kept me from posting to the Hara Development. I plan to resume posting shortly.I want to call your attention to several media events relating to hara development. First, I have an article entitled “Finding Hara” that will be published in the next issue of Tricycle Magazine. The hard copy will be available on the newsstands on November 12; the digital edition will go online on November 1 (https://tricycle.org).

I recently came across a fascinating book chapter that I think has relevance to hara development. Its subject is Noh, a classical Japanese dance theater tradition. Noh is characterized by slow, deliberate, highly stylized movement. The actors wear masks, which cover their facial expressions. While there are spoken words in Noh, emotions are also conveyed by the masks and by movements and bodily gestures.

Anyone who has studied Japanese martial arts—or who has at least watched any of the Karate Kid movies—is familiar with the black belt. Known in Japanese as a kuro obi (kuro=black, obi=belt); it is a sought after sign of proficiency in an art.

A reader of this blog, who is an experienced Zen priest, recently wrote me the following e-mail:
“ I read Omori Sogen Roshi's two books with great interest. Both books resonated strongly. Simple and elegant. He discusses having no "tension" in the stomach muscles, which I understand. However, for the HaraMeter to be effective, to some extent one needs to "set the hara" so as to maintain the valve pressure so to speak. Correct?”

I would like to share with you some new exercises that I recently developed. They have become the foundation of my hara development instruction. All of these exercises are variations on principles borrowed from progressive muscle relaxation (PMR). PMR was developed in the 1920’s by Edmond Jacobson, an American physician, and is still widely used clinically as a relaxation exercise.

In the early stages of my Zen training, I thought that the way to engage the hara was to purposely put tension in my lower abdomen. This did not work; my breathing didn’t change. After my initial “discovery” of my hara, I continued to emphasize tension.