Most men strive to maintain a grounded presence, but in spite of their best efforts, find themselves faltering in the face of chaos. You want to cultivate an unwavering presence, but you don’t know how to begin.

In this Iron Shirt Qi Gong practice, John makes the distinction between Rooting and Grounding. He describes Grounding as putting yourself into the ground. Then he makes the distinction that Rooting is grounding with the addition of receptivity to the energies of the earth.

In the same way that a root pulls in nutrients from the earth, when you are Rooting, you are aligning your body's nervous system so that it is receptive to the textures and energies of the earth. From this place, you can press your awareness out and feel the chaos happening in the world around you without turning away from it. Instead, you feel it from this core place in your heart that is rooted into the earth. You then become the eye of the storm—infinite consciousness in the center of chaos.

If you want to cultivate the unwavering presence of infinite consciousness in the center of chaos, do this 23-minute practice.

Begin standing with your feet slightly wider than hip width apart. Drop down into your knees about 2 inches, so that you can feel the connection to the earth even more fully through the soles of your feet. Feel your fingers stretching down long, as if you could plug them into the earth. Keep your fingers alert, but relaxed. Pull your pubic bone up and back, which will drop your sacrum down a little further.

Press down with your feet, sacrum and fingers, as if you are packing them down into the earth. You should feel the energetic hum of the magnetic field of the planet.

With your mouth closed, begin to breathe deeply into the back and front of your lower abdomen. Then, without losing your breath or ground, bring your hands out in front of you as if you are holding a ball in front of your pubic bone, just below your navel. Then press down through your side ribs and the root of the heart, so everything is pressing down to the earth.

Continue to take smooth, deep breaths down into your lower abdomen, filling the back just as much as the front.

Activate your core - your psoas, abdominal muscles, and diaphragm - so that you are so alert that you could spring or strike from this place, while staying rooted into the earth.

Now wake up the back of your body, expanding your breath into the back of your ribs and the back of your heart. As you do this, imagine that you are making the back of your body very wide, like angel's wings.

Then feel deep into the infinite and unchanging core of your heart. The Hindus call this "the seed of consciousness." It's not the physical or emotional heart—those are constantly changing. It's the part of your heart that is very deep, infinite, and unchanging.

Ground your heart and groin into the earth and feel how immovable you are. If someone wanted to push you over, it would be very difficult.

Now lift your hands so they are level with your heart. Keep your fingers relaxed, but alert. Look at your hands and make sure they are symmetrical. Drop 4 more inches into your knees. Then close your eyes and imagine that you have a root dropping down from your heart through your belly, sacrum and legs, and plugging into the earth. Become very receptive.

Without losing any of the alertness, begin to pulse the energy and electricity of your heart into your hands, so your fingers feel like they are pulsing. Then pulse that energy down from the root of your heart into the earth.

Feel what it's like 100 feet down into the earth - maybe it's rich and muddy. Then 1000 feet down - maybe it's filled with rock and minerals. And then feel all the way down into the core of the earth, and connect the core of your heart with the core of the earth. If thoughts distract you or if you start to feel "too grounded," it's okay. Return to the pose and the connection of the core of your heart to the core of the earth.

From this rooted core heart connected to the earth, feel as if you are pulling life force into your bones from the earth and the environment around you with every breath. Breathe from your bones and your spine. Allow yourself to receive the energy of The Feminine all around you.

Press your awareness out into the room you're in - into the front, back, sides, above and below you. Then continue to press out into the neighborhood you're in. Keep pressing down and out, rooting down and pulling in the energy that the earth has to give you - the plants, the sunlight, the humanity - and then pressing your awareness out.

Feel the chaos happening in the world around you - illness, death, violence. Don't turn away from it. Feel it from this core place in your heart that is grounded into the earth. Keep the core of your heart rooted into the earth. Imagine the roots of a tree spreading in every direction through the soil and down into the core of the earth. At the same time, press from the center of your heart out into the planet. Feel how you can be the eye of the storm. Infinite consciousness in the center of chaos.

Now press your awareness out beyond the planet into the solar system, the galaxy, and out into the cosmos. Root yourself even more as you feel the infinite nature of this moment continually expanding out.

For the last 5 minutes of the practice, flip your hands so that your palms are facing outward and elevate your palms just above the crown of your head so they are facing the sky. Drop down another inch or two into your knees if you can.

Begin to breathe into your upper heart, making your nose, throat, and upper chest very wide. Connect your upper heart to the sky and the top of the atmosphere. Feel starlight and the energy of the cosmos streaming down into your hands, so your body is fully grounded into the earth and fully open to receive the energy of the cosmos. Breathe all of this energy in through the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet, and at the same time, feel out from the stillness at the root of your heart through the chaos of the planet and into the chaos of the stars. Feel how all of existence is structure and chaos.

As you feel into the core of the earth, find a texture that is prevalent for you - richness, fire, energy, magnetism, rock, etc. Pull that texture into your heart and spread it throughout your body. Then feel up into a texture of the cosmos that is prevalent for you - lightness, infinite space, starlight, freshness, silence etc. Pull that texture in through your breath and let it spread throughout your body.

In the last minute of the practice, feel how these two textures - the sky and the earth - settle in your body. Feel how you can call on them and use them to relax you, nourish you, and enliven you at any time.  The Feminine is available to nourish you at any time. You have infinite energy around you so that any state of being can be elevated. Press these textures through your body as a warrior's intention to be elevated - through your mind, body and heart. Pure. Clean. Silent. Still.

Then very slowly lower your arms down to your sides. Come out of your crouch and stand tall. Before you open your eyes, reconnect through the top of your head to the sky, and through your sacrum to the earth. Feel how even in a subtle stance, you can tap into that energy. Then give a bow of thanks to the "Great She." The earth. The cosmos.

Music: Dhan Baba Naanak (Live) by Simrit

Disclaimer: Although anyone may find this practice to be useful, it is made available with the understanding that we are not engaged in presenting specific medical, psychological, emotional, sexual or spiritual advice. Nor is anything in this practice intended to be a diagnosis, prescription, recommendation or cure for any specific kind of medical, psychological, emotional, sexual or spiritual problem. Each individual has unique needs and this practice cannot take these individual differences into account. Each person should engage in a program of treatment, prevention, cure, or general health only in consultation with a licensed, qualified physician, therapist or other competent professional. Any person suffering from a sexually transmitted disease or any local illness of his or her sexual organs should consult a medical doctor and a qualified instructor of sexual yoga before practicing the sexual methods described in this practice.