When I took Do-In classes with Sensei Kawada over 15 years ago as part of my shiatsu therapy training, I learned for the first time how to expand our energy field around us. At the beginning of the Do-In class, we stretched our arms past our ears and circled them downward. We repeated this three times.
This was my introduction to the energy center above our heads. As I lowered my arms, I felt myself creating a circle of energy around me. Doing this before Do-In practice felt like creating a quiet space free from distractions. Repeating the movement three times intensified the silence. I continued doing this in all my Do-In classes. It felt good and felt like it enhanced the energy work.
In Chi Neng Qigong, I encountered a similar method for creating an energy field. And a little later, when I studied Peruvian shamanism, I noticed that these shamans had the exact same practice. Here they call it "expanding the Wiracocha." My experience there strengthened my understanding of the energy field I was already used to creating. So let's delve a little deeper into the added depth I discovered in this tradition.
Wiracocha is considered the creator in Andean cosmology and predates the Inca Empire. According to the creation myth, Wiracocha created the world, the sun, the moon, and the first humans. Wiracocha is usually translated as "source of the sacred." This is a loose translation. The exact translation from Quechua is "the fat (or foam) of the sea." This poetic term stems from the belief that all life, including the deity itself, originated from water.
From the Andean shamanic tradition, I learned that when you connect with the energy center above your head—often referred to as the eighth chakra—you connect with this creative energy and universal consciousness, similar to the power of the creator god Wiracocha. Therefore, this energy center is named after this god. According to shamanic tradition, the Wiracocha is who you are before birth and after death. It is said that when the Wiracocha is expanded, healing can occur more quickly.
The conscious expansion of the Wiracocha is a powerful technique for grounding and protection. With the Wiracocha open, there is only room for the most beneficial energies.
Extend both hands above your head. First, feel the energy field between your hands. Slowly move your hands down along your sides, palms facing outward, as if opening a fan. As you bring your hands down, vividly imagine a flowing, glowing mantle of light surrounding your entire body, enveloping you from head to toe with protective energy. Repeat this movement forward and back. Feel for any cracks or tears and "weave" the energy field with your hands until it feels whole again. For working with a client: Repeat the movement, reach up, and pull down another layer of the Wiracocha. Imagine it enveloping the client in the same protective, radiant light.
When your Do-In practice, shamanic work or journey is complete, reach out with both hands and gently slide them under the edge of the energy mantle surrounding you. Slowly and consciously raise your hands upward as if folding a fan. With your hands close together above your head, visualize the energy being neatly gathered in the eighth chakra position. Visualize the energy field as a radiant sun above you. The rays of light shine through your crown all the way to the earth. Thus you are always a channel of light, or as the Tao says: “a child of heaven and earth.”