Standing, being, feeling, breathing, nature.
Every day of our Mariposa Cleanse Retreat, the first thing after tea and simple qigong, we practice standing meditation. Standing meditation integrates the qigong practices of posture, relaxation and breathing. It is arguably the most important and most widely practiced form of qigong. For many it’s practice improves respiration, strength, focus, balance and alignment as well as helping to develop a tranquil mind.
Early morning is the best time to practice, immersed in nature’s daily awakening we take a moment to just observe our connections. We meditate while standing, observing the natural flow of the breath, and holding our arms in a rounded shape as if around a big ball. In standing meditation there is no external movement but internally the qi and breath are moving. The eyes are open and one is aware of the external, but focuses on the internal events. In this way it is both passive and active, both yin and yang. It cultivates body, mind and spirit in one easy practice that can challenge and improve anyone.
While ‘Standing’ your body is ever part of your experience, thus you explore spirit and nature equally. After some practice, in the quiet awareness, you might observe kinks or blockages in the qi flow in different parts of your body.
You might observe that by breathing into and shining the light of your awareness on those blockages you help dissipate them and smooth the flow of qi. Enhancing the free flow of qi, your life energy, creates a healthy body and a healthy body creates a healthy spirit.