The ancient art of standing like a tree

Traditional Chinese Medicine - TCM podcast

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.

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