Zhan Zhuang (Chin. 站桩) is considered to be the most powerful exercise of all the Taiji Quan (Chin. 太极拳) and qigong (Chin. 气功) postures, and is often used as a separate exercise to increase leg strength, concentration, deep breathing and qi flow.

Zhan Zhuang is very basic form of exercise, but very powerful exercise to enhance energy, mental clarity, and internal strength. It’s an excellent standing meditation for improving your productivity and bringing more aliveness to everything you do. 

Zhan Zhuang means standing like a tree or standing like a post, where one stands still, in an upright posture, as if standing like a tree.

The tree metaphor is apt as your legs and torso form the trunk of the tree. Your head and limbs form the branches. And your feet, sinking and extending down beneath the ground, establish the roots. It offers many of the mental benefits of mindfulness training.

The most common Zhan Zhuang method is known as Chēng Bào (撑抱, “Tree Hugging stance”). 

The idea behind standing still in static positions, for instance with our arms holding an energetic ball around our chest or other positions, is that in order to be able to hold these positions for more than a few minutes, we have to completely relax. So our body has to find harmony, and we need to use our bodies as a unit in order to be able to stand there. Then we are holding our arms in place with our dantien rather than the muscles in our arms and legs.

The Benefits of Zhan Zhuang

There are two types of muscles employed when we are moving and standing. Phasic muscles and Tonic muscles. Phasic muscles are the fast twitch muscles we use for work. We need them to work and mobilize, but they get tired pretty quickly. Tonic muscles are for more for keeping our posture happy and stabilizing the body. They are not good for doing work or for lifting stuff. The problem with most of us is that the two jobs have become confused. So postural muscles are being used to do work, and the movement muscles are being used for posture. Therefore the whole system gets exhausted in its disorganization. Zhan Zhuang makes us use the postural muscles to stand there, because we cannot hold the Phasic muscles for that long until they get exhausted. So it balances the body out.

Zhan Zhuang has a normalizing effect on the body, and any habitual tension or tissue shortening will be normalized by the practice, and the body regains its natural ability to function optimally. Restructured body will be less prone to muscular-skeletal medical conditions.

In contrast to many other methods, Zhan Zhuang develops our internal energy in a very efficient way, instead of consuming it. Zhan Zhuang is practiced in well-balanced standing positions which increase the flow of energy and build up internal strength. The Zhan Zhuang system is based on a unique combination of exertion and relaxation which stimulates, cleanses and internally massages the whole organism. It is a powerful way of healing used for medical treatment. The process of healing and rejuvenation is a constant one, involving the repair of old injuries, recent injuries and a repeated rebalancing of the activity stemming from our normal everyday lives.

The majority of injuries to the sinews (muscle, tendon, ligament) involve some form of contraction, tightening or even shortening over time. The one main exception to this can occur from very severe injuries in which the sinews are stretched beyond their limit or even tear. The result of such events is flaccidity where the tissue becomes very weak and without any springiness. 

Proper springiness is necessary for the healthy functioning of all the sinews. And this is where Standing Meditation is of great value. Standing Meditation has the innate ability to repair, regenerate and even amplify this springiness. And not only that, it also creates a stronger connection within all the body’s network of ‘springs,’ both individually and in relation to one another. 

According to clinical experimentation and tests, there are many kinds of chronic diseases such as chronic tracheitis, chronic gastroenteritis, chronic hepatitis, cardiopathy, high blood pressure, neurasthenic, chronic rheumatoid arthritis and similar rheumatoid arthritis, but also diseases which may affect severely the appearance of the patient’s body such as adenoma, goiter, fingers shivering, etc… 

The primary benefit of Zhan Zhuang is a feeling of abundance of physical energy. This increase in energy is the result of correcting your body’s posture, because incorrect posture is usual for almost all modern people. Incorrect posture, or long term creates fatigue by slowing or stopping the flow of energy in the body.

Vital energy Qi (Chinese 气), flows freely throughout the body’s energetic pathways, called vessels or channels.

In Chinese medicine, there are eight vessels, twelve primary Qi channels, and thousands of secondary channels branching out from the primary ones. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the root cause (basic) of diseases are, stagnation, deficiency, or excess of vital energy Qi, as a form of physical, spiritual, and mental ailments. The goal of Zhan Zhuang is to unblock Qi stagnation, or revive Qi deficiency, as reduce abundant qi in particular organ, and to open and connect all the body’s energetic pathways.

Zhan Zhuang helps rebalance your energy from your head to the center point of your body or Dan Tian 丹田(acupuncture point) which is three inches below the navel. By exercising awareness to the Dan Tian we start connecting our spirit with body and our mind, and activates our instincts and intuitions.

The Basic Principle of Standing Meditation

What you need is just a place with good sunshine and fresh air, no matter if it is indoor or outdoor, assume your posture, stand and do not move, like immobilized, breath naturally, your whole body keeps a general state “relaxed but not slack, contracted but not rigid”. 

In order to stand still in Zhan Zhuang position we must first stand correctly, in the proper body alignment. Zhan Zhuang practice makes systematic improvements in our ability to maintain proper equilibrium. With proper alignment, the skeleton structure creates a natural vessel for us to maintain and cultivate a reservoir of energy that circulates around the body’s meridians.

The goal of this practice is to hold your body in a relaxed, extended, and open position, and our mind will be empty, active, and alert.

Holding the ball

This exercise is the most common standing position and ideal for beginners.

Stand comfortably with feet hip- to shoulder-width apart, with the knees slightly bent (i.e. unlocked) and hips and spine relaxed, as if you were lowering yourself onto the edge of a high stool. Gently raise your arms to mid-chest height as if holding a large delicate ball, with the hands relaxed and fingers lightly extended.

Imagine there is a balloon between your knees, and your head is suspended by a piece of string. Breathe softly and quietly, preferably through the nose. Feel and observe the body and mind, gently encouraging the whole body to soften without letting the posture collapse or becoming rigid or tense. Hold for two to three minutes, gradually building up to 10 to 15 minutes a day.

General rules how to keep position Zhan Zhuang

Stand with your feet shoulder-width, and parallel. Bend your knees just slightly (feeling the backs of the knees as soft and hollow), allowing your weight to sink fully into your feet at the bubbling well – the hollow spot center and just below the upper pad area, legs and pelvis are relaxed. 

Gently roll the knees out a bit without moving the feet. This will tend to lift the arch. Don’t allow the big toes to lose contact with the floor. Then float your hands and elbows up to the level of your heart – elbows lower than wrists, palms facing your torso, creating a circle with your arms, with four or five inches between the gently extended fingers of your right & left hands – just as though you were indeed hugging a tree.

Sink the shoulders down. And then imagine that you are hugging that tree, and as you hug the tree you’re also becoming a tree: feel your roots descending, sap being drawn upward through the center of your torso, your arms & legs lengthening, the crown of your head softening to receive sunlight and the energy of the sky from above you. 

Use inhalation to expand body and exhalation to release unnecessary tension down into the ground using the bones as conduits. Continue to feel your limbs energize, your spine elongate and your muscles relax into the position. Hold for some time.

Slowly, with practice over time, work toward sinking lower, widening the distance between the feet (still kept parallel), and holding for longer periods of time. The body will relax into the pose, your mind will cease wandering and your muscles and tendons will become more flexible and supple. This should not hurt your knees or lower back if done correctly. If it hurts the front of the thighs (quadriceps), that is a good sign.

Now we are able to go further, and expand our practice to the level of awareness, explaining Zhan Zhuang in detail. 

• Stand with feet pointed straight ahead, parallel to each other, and firmly on the ground at shoulder width. Grasp the ground with your feet while keeping them elastic with the tip of the toes slightly extended.
• Extend upward from the crown of your head into the sky. You want your head to feel like it’s floating above your neck, effortlessly suspended above your spine.
• Allow your hips to slightly sink down as if you were sitting at the edge of a high barstool. This will straighten the spine in your lower back. Most people have a natural “s” curve in their spine.
• Keep your knees bent slightly. Your knees should never be too straight, and should never go beyond your toes – too bent.
• Relax your shoulders. Round your upper back a bit, and make your chest slightly concave.
• Let your arms rest comfortably at your sides. Imagine a small white ball under each armpit to create a small space. Just keep your hands and arms relaxed and loose, as they hang to your sides.
• Let the palms of your hands face toward your hips. Hands shouldn’t touch your hips; instead, they should hang about two to three inches from your hips.
• Tuck your chin inward. Roll it inward and up toward the top of your head. This opens the area where your spine meets your skull. 
• Keep your eyes slightly open with a soft gaze ahead of you. Keeping your eyes open can lead to distractions and closing them can lead to tiredness. A soft gaze with eyes almost closed provides the optimal conditions when you’re first learning this or any other meditation.
• Place your tongue gently on your palate and lips are barely closed. Relax your jaw muscles.

Internal basic rules on how to stand

Breathe comfortably, slow, and quietly through your nose. Feel your whole body relax deeper with every exhale. Sink all of your muscle tension into your feet and into the ground below them. To assist you in this effort, try placing all of your attention on your feet first. Avoid exerting ourselves either mentally or physically. If we use physical strength, our energy, or qi, will be congested and blocked. 

• Concentrate on different parts of the body. When we achieve a correct standing posture, we should turn attention to the various places where is tension in our body. The general rule is to start from the head and scan your body downward. When you locate an area of tension, breath into that area and allow the tension to dissolve and sink downward. When we release the tension, then we can place our awareness on the Dantian, two inches below the navel.
  It usually takes a long time to achieve proper alignment, so be patient. In order to achieve the correct position, you can practice in front of a mirror. In every few breaths try releasing tension by raising up shoulders and then lowering it down for a few seconds. Putting your attention on your feet and feeling the weight of your body on the bottom of them will help you redistribute your energy away from your head. This provides a more calm, clear mind, ideal for productive work.
• The optimal time to perform the exercise. We should start with only 1 or 2 minutes of practice. To gain the optimal health benefits of the standing practice, 1 hour of exercise is the best way to perform this exercise in time. During exercise, we may feel numbness, tingling, pulsations, warmth, or coolness in your hands, feet, head, or other portions of your body.
  These sensations are signs the energy is attempting to flow freely through the body. Many people in the early stages of this practice is trembling and shaking. It shows that our muscles are too weak, and our tendons are still adapting to a new position. In time tremors and shaking will disappear.

Sensations experienced during standing meditation practice

Sweat – a sign that the body is overheated. 

Heat – various Qi imbalances. This is often part of the process of burning out impurities of systemic imbalances. If heat appears at the site of an old injury, it indicates the body’s way of healing and restoring.

Cold – coldness in most cases is a sign of deficient circulation or a deficient organ condition.

Numbness – is traditionally a sign of dampness in the channel.

Shaking – is the body’s way of adjusting misaligned tissues and imbalanced pressures in the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and even the bones. 

Pain – there are a number of different types of pain we may experience at one time or another during practice such as stingy, burning, achy, sharp, stabbing. twisting, oppressive, and others. Although each of these is indicative of certain causes, they can generally be divided into two overall categories: Qi stagnation and blood stagnation. The most basic way to differentiate between the two is that with Blood stagnation the pain is always in the same place, whereas with Qi stagnation the pain seems to move or jump from one location to another and then back again in a particular general region. Also with blood stagnation the pain is generally more severe. But this is not to say that the pain caused by Qi stagnation cannot trigger quite a lot of soreness as well. Now once again, these two categories can relate to both musculoskeletal problems or internal organ problems. Obviously outright pain is not something to be ignored. Prolonged blood stagnation in any of the internal systems should be treated as a serious ‘wake-up call.’ Prolonged pain anywhere in the musculoskeletal region should likewise be dealt with. 

Confirmatory signs of correct practice

Relaxation – greater relaxation is usually the first positive sign and leads to a sense of greater ease which generates a greater sense of space inside the body.
Warmth – is a sign that the Qi is moving.
Lightness.
Heaviness – is many times the feeling that accompanies growing a deeper and deeper root. This feeling often indicates the body’s early attempts at unification.
Pulsing sensation – the feelings of Qi energy pulsing in part or throughout the entire body. Pulsing has a sense of ebb and flow.
Sense of power – These feelings are generally linked to the Low Dan Tien.
Euphoria, hollowness, emptiness. 

When you’ve completed exercise, slowly rock your feet back and forth and side to side. Gently shake and tap around your body to release any stagnant energy that may have built up during your practice.

The main point is not to stand there suffering, but to learn to allow our bodies to relax in the position. This is very odd and difficult for a while until breakthroughs begin to happen. Then, instead of using the wrong muscles to hold up our arms and legs, our body unites, and energy begin to flow through us.

When we begin this practice, we only stand for a few minutes in the poses. We don’t jump into standing for twenty minutes right away. This is a gradual practice, not to be rushed. Little by little is the way to achieve our goal.

As we continue our training, we begin to repair and improve old injuries, latent disrupted energetics, and other health problems. Eventually, we are able to harmonize and balance the primary energies of the body. We do this by bringing more and more of our consciousness to bear in the Dan Tien until we are able to activate the body’s own self-healing mechanisms. When these systems are brought online, one of the main ways by which healing occurs is through a major improvement in the circulation of both Qi and blood. When most of the blockages have been removed from the body’s channels there becomes a more abundant free-flow of Qi coursing through all the meridians.