Basic Standing Qigong Posture

Standing Qigong can be a powerful tool for connecting you to your body. For tai chi practitioners, it's also a critical method for developing the internal connections that create the relaxation and flow you see on the outside.

Standing is foundational for deeper qigong practice, improving tai chi, and paving the way for meditation. But, if you're like me, you might just learn to love to stand as an end in itself!

Use these resources to build up your practice a little at a time:

Settling into Standing Qigong

In this 5-minute scan, you'll align your body, release the first layer of accumulated tension from your day, and slow your mind down to a speed where your subsequent movement practice will be much more refreshing and restorative:

Settling In 5-Minute Practice Mp3 (right click to save)

Learning to Soften the Body

In this 10-minute scan, you'll move beyond body alignment and the initial "settle". As you go longer now, you will start to enliven each section of your body, bringing awareness and increased sensation to each new place, from head to toe, which naturally softens the tension you uncover:

Softening 10-Minute Practice Mp3 (right click to save)

Sinking Your Mind through Your Body

In this 20-minute scan, you'll start the process of sinking your chi by letting your mind soak into your body at each height. As you go longer now, you will begin to recognize deeper relaxation patterns and find natural resolution of holding patterns in the body, without mental force:

Sinking 20-Minute Practice Mp3 (right click to save)