Should you’ve been doing Tai Chi, meditation or yoga for any size of time you’ll have heard the previous adage to ‘put your tongue behind the 2 entrance tooth‘. The reason given for that is often that it “connects the 2 meridians that go up the again and down the entrance of the physique referred to as the Ren and Du meridians, creating the micro-cosmic orbit”.
From a Chinese language drugs or Taoist perspective the perceived knowledge appears to be that “circulation of the Qi/Breath in Ren Mo and Du Mo is a bit like {an electrical} circuit. The 2 ends of the vessels have to be related for there to be an uninterrupted circulate.”
Personally, I’ve my doubts about the entire concept of ‘vitality’ or Qi ‘flowing’ across the physique. I usually suppose it’s actually an historical aberration of the easy concept of forces transferring contained in the physique. In Chinese language martial arts there’s a phrase you usually hear – rise, drill, overturn, fall, which matches this circuit within the physique with a martial method. One of the best instance of which is Pi Quan from Xing Yi, throughout which forces within the physique (jin) stand up after which come crashing down right into a strike.
Power and steadiness
Nonetheless, it’s not simply Chinese language drugs that recommends this tongue place. I’ve just lately found that there are lots of Western sources advocating the identical tongue place. For instance, Colgate toothpaste has an article about right tongue place on its web site that recommends the very same factor – the tongue resting on the higher palette behind the 2 entrance tooth. The article hyperlinks to a examine in Radiology and Oncology referred to as “Three-dimensional Ultrasound Analysis of Tongue Posture and Its Impression on Articulation Issues in Preschool Youngsters with Anterior Open Chew“, which notes that “youngsters with poor tongue posture had been reported to have a better incidence of anterior open chunk, a sort of malocclusion the place the entrance tooth don’t contact when the mouth is shut. This can be as a result of the tongue places strain on the tooth which may shift their place over time.” (Colgate).
In this text from Healthline, Dr. Ron Baise, dentist of 92 Dental in London explains “Your tongue must be touching the roof of your mouth when resting… It shouldn’t be touching the underside of your mouth. The entrance tip of your tongue must be about half an inch greater than your entrance tooth.“
Whereas dentists might concentrate on the advantages of fine tongue place to your tooth and stopping issues together with your speech, or mouth respiratory from occurring, some train fans are going additional and claiming that correct tongue place truly will increase your power and steadiness, one thing that’s undoubtedly necessary for martial arts, like Xing Yi.
Now, I’m as conscious as the following Tai Chi blogger that cherry selecting research that affirm your beliefs (and presumably ignoring all the pieces that doesn’t) is a little bit of a purple flag. Nonetheless, the concept that your tongue place results power and steadiness makes extra sense to me than imaginary vitality channels (Du/Ren) that will, or might not, exist in actual life.
I stay barely skeptical about the entire challenge, nevertheless, my tongue does naturally relaxation behind my two entrance tooth on the higher pallet of my mouth… I can really feel it there now as I write this. Was it all the time there? Or have I turned this into my pure place because of beginning Tai Chi in my 20s?… I don’t know. All I can say is that it feels snug, and if my Ren and Du channels are connecting due to it, and my power and imaginative and prescient is best due to it then…. a lot the higher.