Nen

A speculative somatic-movement practice based on the practice of Nen: a technique that allows a living being to use and manipulate their own life energy (known as aura), allowing them to can craft a great variety of parapsychological abilities. Nen is an artificial practice which serves as the core power system of the anime Hunter X Hunter.

(The practice given in this session, Nen 3, utilized the structure below but was facilitated very differently. I will eventually get around to updating it as it was.)

Practice 1: Aura and the Four Principles

Connect to physical body.

Find a comfortable sitting positions, legs crossed or extended, spine reaching upward, eyes open or closed.
Take a moment to return to your body. Attend to your breath… to the contact between your body and the ground, and the distribution of weight… to the alignment of your bones…

Feeling the presence of aura.

Aura is the life energy produced by all living bodies, it is vital for survival and directly linked to one's stamina. The points on the body from which aura flows out are called "aura nodes".

Begin a body scan from the ground skyward. As you do, ever so softly, play with sensing the body through micro-movements, little shifts.
As your send attention from the tips of your toes through the foot, image sensing the presence of aura, warmth.
As you climb from the ankle to the knee, the aura flows from node to node, areas along the body to which attention gravitates.
Towards the pelvis, where the aura pools and raises up through the spine, the lower back, the anus, the sex, the sacrum.
As it reaches the stomach, allow is to linger there. Extend your attention through the network of nodes awakened thus far. How does the presence of aura feel? Does this energy have a certain temperature? Consistency? Color?
Raise through the ribs and the lungs and the heart and the solar plexus.
As the aura reaches the arm clavicles, it extends down through both arms. From the shoulders towards the elbows… the base of the hands... the palms… through each finger. The matrix of nodes becoming wide and intricate.
Once again extending skyward, send your attention through the base of the neck… the throat… pooling at the base of the skull. Filling the jaw… the mouth… through the nose… the base of the neck… the eyes…
Until your entire body is filled with awareness and availability, aura, warmth – a matrix of aura nodes.

Opening the aura nodes.

Sense the skin, the limit between yourself and your external reality.
Gradually, imagine opening your aura nodes, allowing aura to flow through the space and your body.
Like steam boiling out from a kettle… a mist… smoke…
As you gradually increase your range of movement and effort, imagine this steam/mist/smoke reacting, finely swirling with every twitch.

At this state, with your aura nodes open, aura is slowly leaking away from the body, seeping out, stemming up and off the top of the head.

Ten (Shroud).

We will now practice the four principles or applications of Nen, learning to control our aura and the opening and closing of the aura nodes. The first principle of Nen is Ten, shroud.

Maintain your attention to the body of full of aura, the aura nodes open, aura seeping out like steam/mist/smoke, stemming up and off the top of your head, reacting as you move.
Attend to your breath, the contact between your body and the ground, your shifting of weight and realigning of the spine.

Imagine gathering the leaking aura towards your body.
Gradually it concentrates around you, forming a thin layer, a shroud. Perhaps it feels like a lukewarm, viscous liquid.
This is the sensation of Ten. Be as specific as you can about this state. How thick is the shroud? Does its thickness vary along the body?

Attempt maintaining that sensation, attending to the whole body, for a minute.
Gradually increasing your breadth of movement, go for another minute, challenging your ability to maintain the sensation of Ten.

Take some time to play with the sensations of open aura nodes, a steam/mist/smoke, and Ten, a shroud of lukewarm, viscous liquid. Aura extending near and far from the body and changing concentration and consistency as it does.

Zetsu (Suppress).

The second principle Nen is Zetsu, to suppress the flow of aura by closing all aura nodes. It is often used to conceal one's presence from others or increase ones sensitivity. Otherwise, to relieve fatigue since it forces the body's external layer of aura to be fully contained within. It is the most vulnerable state, as no aura is protecting the body.

Imagine the aura nodes closing, shutting the flow of aura. How does this feel? How does it affect your breath, the tension in your body? Your movement’s momentum and quality of effort?
This is the sensation of Zetsu.

Take time to play between three qualities of Nen, of release and control of your aura: Zetsu, Ten, open aura nodes. Null, shroud, and steam/mist/smoke.
How do they inform your appetite for movement? What happens in the shifts from state to state? How are the sensations extending through the body?

Ren (Enhance).

The third principle is Ren, to enhance or refine the flow of aura. Focusing on outputting a larger amount of aura than Ten, projecting it outwards explosively, thus amplifies invigorating the body with a large pool of aura.

Imagine summoning forth and releasing a large amount and density of aura, radiating through the space around you. Perhaps this feels like great warmth, or a prickly sensation along the skin.
This is the sensation of Ren. Be as specific as you can about this state. How far does the aura extend? Does it have a certain temperature? Consistency? Color?
Attempt maintaining its intensity for a minute. How does it inform the qualities and intensities of your movement?

Crucially, Ren is the affected by the practitioner’s intentions and emotions, which alter the quality of the tempered aura, Nen. When for example charge with violent intent, it is said to radiate bloodlust and overwhelm others with fear.

Gradually open your awareness and availability to the space and other practitioners with it.
Attending to your breath, the contact with the ground, the articulation of the spine, the shifting of flesh, and weight.
Play with charging your Ren with different intentions, altering its qualities. Or otherwise allowing its qualities to change and inform your fantasy. How does this inform your movement and sensation of the body?

Play between four qualities of Nen: open aura nodes, Ten, Zetsu, Ren. Steam/smoke/mist, shroud, null, and burst. Playing with charging your Nen with qualities and intensities of intent.
As you do, explore greater breadths of motion and fantasy. Attend to the aura and Nen application of the others in the room.

Hatsu (Act).

The fourth and final principle of Nen is Hatsu, to enact one's personal expression of Nen, with technique and intention.

Finish by taking fair time to play around with concepts, states, games proposed through the practice so far. Exploring and experimenting with your specialized manifestation of Nen, and the flow of aura through the space and those within it.

As you do, if you’d like, you can begin playing with some of Nen’s Advanced Techniques.
For example, Gyo, to focus and concentrate Nen in specific parts of the body. When applied to the eyes for example, it can allow the practitioner to see the Nen of others.
Or Ryu, one of the most complex, precisely controlling the flow of aura throughout and around the body, altering its intensities and transference at specific points with great nuance.

Eventually, find an ending.

Nen 3.2