Zhan Zhuang: Cultivate Internal Energy With An Ancient Standing Meditation

Overview: Zhan Zhuang is a simple yet powerful training exercise to enhance energy, mental clarity, and internal strength. It’s an excellent standing meditation to bring more aliveness to everything you do.

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What if there was one thing you could do to increase your energy, mental clarity, and endurance in just 10 to 20 minutes a day?

The method outlined below has influenced virtually everything I do: how I stand, sit, walk, eat, work, and read.

Curious?

Let’s dive in …

What is Zhan Zhuang?

Zhan Zhuang (pronounced “Jan Jong”) is a dynamic system of standing practices from ancient China.

Zhan Zhuang translates to standing pole or standing post. It’s sometimes translated as “standing like a tree.”

In this training system, practitioners stand in various postures with very specific alignments for long periods of time.

Zhan Zhuang provides tremendous health benefits but is also used for martial training and other forms of higher development.

Philosophy & Practice

Every ancient tradition, especially in the East, has two key components: ideas and practices.

Philosophical ideas provide a set of ideals regarding one’s behavior and way of being.

The system of practices or methods gives its practitioners a direct experience of those ideas so these higher ideals can be integrated into the individual.

In ancient China, Taoism was the dominant philosophical system, based on various texts like Laozi’s Tao Te Ching, which translates to “The Classic of the Way and the Power (or Virtue).”

The Taoist system of practices is called Qigong (or Chi Gung), meaning “life energy cultivation”.

Qigong: The Way of Energy

There are thousands of practices within the Qigong system (3,600 is often the number given).

It’s made up of specific stretching, movements, stances, forms, and breathing processes.

In fact, if you’re not already familiar with Qigong, you most likely know one of the sister forms of internal martial arts: Tai Chi.

The Chinese have been studying the energy of the human body for thousands of years.

Their examination of energy and its behavior led to the concept of Chi (or Qi).

Chi translates as air or breath, but it’s also used to represent energy, vital essence, and life force. (This notion of chi is likely what inspired George Lucas with the concept of “The Force” in Star Wars.)

The Chinese have long believed chi is the fundamental energy that sustains all life.

Even though many scholars associate alchemy with being a Western discipline, the original alchemists were Taoist practitioners.

These internal alchemists sought methods of cultivating this primal life-force energy within their bodies.

Qigong methods fall into one of three areas:

  1. Health (fundamental energy cultivation),
  2. Martial application (for developing power for the martial arts), and
  3. Spiritual development.

The method we’re reviewing today focuses on fundamental energy cultivation for health.

human biofield zhan zhaung

source

The Evidence of Chi

If you’re unfamiliar with the concept or experience of chi, it’s natural to question its existence.

Chi can seem like “magical thinking,” something our rational minds judge.

When I first learned the practices of Zhan Zhuang, my progress was slow. My skeptical, intellectual mind wasn’t open.

And with a rigid mind, I was violating one of the principles of the practice.

Slowly, I had direct experiences with chi. As my body opened, I began feeling sensations of internal movement.

This movement is an increase in blood flow combined with air or chi.

Modern science’s understanding of chi is limited because it lacks the tools for measuring it.

But that’s changing. The study of the human biofield in energy medicine is leading to creative methods of measuring subtle energy fields.1Beverly Rubik, Measurement of the Human Biofield and Other Energetic Instruments.

There have also been many demonstrations by chi-cultivation practitioners that defy modern science. (See this brief documentary on a chi healer’s extraordinary abilities.)

But all this evidence remains anecdotal.

Returning to the Body

As Westerners, we value thinking, reason, and logic above all else.

Living in the information age, it’s fair to say most of us live in our heads.

Our prefrontal cortex sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. But we often use our capacity to think at the expense of our instincts, intuition, and feelings—all of which provide necessary information and feedback about ourselves and the world we inhabit.

Much of the anxiety, stress, restlessness, and depression that plague us today are caused by being disconnected from our bodies.

When all our energy and attention is in our heads—with concerns about work, family, finances, health, image, relationships, future wellbeing, etc.—we develop anxiety and other neuroses.

In Toward a Psychology of Being, Maslow writes:2Abraham Maslow, Toward a Psychology of Being, 1998.

Humans no longer have instincts in the animal sense, powerful, unmistakable inner voices which tell them unequivocally what to do, when, where, how and with whom.

Making decisions exclusively with our minds—without consciously connecting with our instincts, feelings, and intuitions—has dire consequences for both individuals and society.

Maslow’s observation about humans’ disconnection from instincts is accurate. But by applying methods like Zhan Zhuang, we have the opportunity to reforge our mind with our body.

The Ancient Art of Standing Like a Tree

That’s what the ancient Taoists did. They reconnected with their instincts by observing nature.

These inner alchemists learned how to cultivate the natural energy inborn in all biological systems.

Although there are thousands of forms of Qigong, most of them use a derivative of Zhan Zhuang as a foundational practice.

Zhan Zhuang means “standing like a tree,” “pile standing,” or “post standing.”

As the name implies, Zhan Zhuang is a standing practice 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.

At its core, Zhan Zhuang is like a form of standing meditation. It offers many of the mental benefits of mindfulness training.

But in its standing postures, Zhan Zhuang goes much further.

Poor Alignment Causes Problems

Zhan Zhuang is a simple and elegant practice that offers astounding benefits to its practitioners.

The primary benefit, which doesn’t take long to begin receiving, is a dramatic increase in physical energy.

This increase in energy is the result of correcting your body’s posture and reducing muscle tension. Improper posture is “normal” for almost all modern people.

Sadly, it creates fatigue by slowing or stopping the flow of energy in the body. Incorrect alignment leads to respiratory dysfunction and reduces the oxygen available to the body.

energy meridians zhan zhaung

By design, our chi flows freely throughout the body’s energetic pathways, called vessels or channels.

In Chinese medicine, there are eight vessels, twelve primary chi channels, and thousands of secondary channels branching out from the primary ones.

In chi theory, energetic blocks (stagnant chi) are the root cause of most physical and mental ailments.

The Benefits of Zhan Zhuang

The goal of Zhan Zhuang is to unblock stagnant chi and open all the body’s energetic pathways.

The miraculous health benefits of Zhan Zhuang would not be known without the dedicated work of Professor Yu Yong Nian. Doctor Yu trained with Grand Master Wang Xiang Zhai, a kind of legend in their tradition, and the creator of Yiquan (a form of internal martial arts).

For decades, Doctor Yu ran tests and studies documenting the beneficial effects of Zhan Zhuang.

Health benefits derived from this standing practice include:3Yu Yong Nian, The Search for Wu, 2006.

  • Increased red blood cells
  • Increased hemoglobin production
  • Better nerve excitation
  • Increased oxygen in the body
  • Higher-quality cerebral cortex excitation
  • Improved sleep

Dr. Yu’s book The Search for Wu may be difficult to find. However, it looks like there’s a new edition available under the title, Zhan Zhuang: The Art of Nourishing Life. (See the book recommendations below this guide.)

Zhan Zhuang is Ideal for Modern Folks

Consider how much time you spend seated in front of a computer or staring down at your phone.

Every minute that your body is not in proper alignment, you’re losing vital energy.

Plus, the consequences of improper posture are cumulative.

I spent over 15 years slouched over a book or keyboard before I started this practice when I was in my mid-30s.

I was already experiencing neck, shoulder, and back pain.

The pain would sometimes get triggered from shoveling snow or chopping wood, but often just from sleeping the wrong way.

After about six months of practice, almost all of this pain disappeared. Over a decade later, it hasn’t returned.

The increase in energy you’ll have throughout the day from this practice is undeniable. And you’ll be able to test that statement for yourself.

zhan zhaungsource

A Gentle Focus on Your Center

Zhan Zhuang helps rebalance the excessive energy stuck in your head to the center of your body.

The Chinese call this physical center the lower Dantian; the Japanese call it the Hara.

While there is a specific center point about the width of two or three fingers below the navel, for this practice, the entire lower torso forms a kind of bowl as the “center.”

By learning to allow your awareness to sink into this region, numerous things begin to happen:

  • A settling or grounding effect occurs as you begin to feel more rooted and stable.
  • By releasing the muscle tension you were subconsciously holding, a sense of relaxation and calmness emerges.
  • As your awareness naturally sinks into your body, body-mind integration starts to occur, leading to a reconnection with your instincts and gut feeling.

Together, all of the above leads to mental clarity, more energy, improved focus, and alertness.

The Foundational Principle of Standing Meditation

Many people will feel the powerful effects of Zhan Zhuang right away.

If you show it to a child, for example, they are likely to get it instantly.

For others, it may take time before they’ll experience the effects. (It took me many months.)

The deciding factor is your ability to relax various regions within your body.

I did not understand how much tension I was holding in my body until I practiced Zhan Zhuang for a number of months.

As the practice progressed, I could isolate tension in different regions of my body and begin to release them.

As you learn to relax and tune into your body, your kinesthetic intelligence increases.

Your mind becomes more aware of your body and how it stabilizes to find its equilibrium.

A Quick Note from the Author

Before we explore the actual method, I wanted to quickly address my background related to this topic.

First, I’m not a teacher of Zhan Zhuang. I am a practitioner with over fifteen years of experience.

Since I began practicing Zhan Zhuang, I’ve continued this training daily including various internal martial arts as well. There are many different standing systems. I’ve trained in five different systems where each one has between five and eight different postures.

I trained directly with two highly qualified teachers for many years (not both at the same time). Combined, these two teachers had over 70 years of experience in the internal arts.

Their primary teacher was Master B.P. Chan, and one of my instructors was also trained in Grand Master Wang Xiang Zhai’s lineage.

Okay, back to Zhan Zhuang …

The Practice of Zhan Zhuang

The actual practice of Zhan Zhuang is so simple it’s easy to discount its value. You stand still. That’s it!

But to stand still, you must first stand correctly, in the proper body alignment.

The body is a natural, vertical cylinder.

Most animal species have a cylinder structure. Other animals, however, have a horizontal cylinder supported by four limbs. This is very stable.

In contrast, our cylinder is upright. This upright posture frees our forelimbs for grasping and manipulating nature.

But it’s more challenging to balance a vertical cylinder on two legs than it is to balance a horizontal cylinder on four.

The Zhan Zhuang practice makes systematic improvements in our ability to maintain proper equilibrium.

standing stages zhan zhaungsource

“Gravity” is always exerting a downward force on our erect posture.

With improper alignment, the muscles in our body are in a constant juggling act in an attempt to maintain equilibrium.

This results in a constant drain on our energy.

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.

Your mind will be empty, active, and alert.

Although you may feel like it takes work to achieve the correct posture, you want to use minimal effort when maintaining this posture.

But this relaxation comes after you’ve learned how to maintain the correct alignments.

Basic Zhan Zhuang Posture Guidelines

Be patient as you learn the correct posture and alignments. Go over each detail carefully, over and over again.

When I first learned how to practice Zhan Zhuang from my teacher, I was overwhelmed by the number of details of alignment that I needed to keep in mind.

It’s helpful to remind yourself that you don’t need to “get it right” at first.

That idea will only create internal tension, which will inhibit your progress with this practice.

What follows are general instructions for what’s called the Wuji (empty) posture in Zhan Zhuang. This is the initial standing position you learn in this system.

1) Stand with feet pointed straight ahead, parallel to each other, and firmly on the ground at shoulder width.

Your weight is ideally focused toward the front region of the foot, called Yongquan. In Chinese medicine, it’s referred to as Kidney 1 or Bubbling Spring, but in Zhan Zhuang, it’s not that specific. Instead, the weight is simply distributed toward the front of the foot.

Alternatively, your weight can be in the middle of the foot, but avoid standing on your heels (which will compress your joints). The tips of the toes are slightly extended.

2) Bend slightly from the inside of your hips.

Release the inside of your hip joints, a region called the Kua. (See image below.) This will help release the tension in your lower back.

Imagine that you’re sitting at the edge of a barstool; this will help you get into the correct position. A common mistake beginners make is bending from the hips (“outer”) as if they were squatting down. This leads to increased tension.

(The challenge is that with this initial Wuji posture, there’s only a slight bend at the “crease” (Kua), which makes it more difficult to detect if you’re bending correctly.)

3) Your knees bend slightly.

When you “bend at the kua,” your knees will bend to compensate as you slightly sink down.

Your knees should never be “locked” (too straight) and should never go beyond your toes (too bent).

Bahui point as the crown

4) 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. The actual crown, called the Bahui point, is further back than people tend to think.

5) Relax your shoulders.

Don’t arch your back like in a military posture. And don’t “round your shoulders” either (a common, but incorrect instruction as this leads to an unnatural posture).

Simply relax your shoulders to your sides. With relaxed shoulders, your chest will be slightly concave.

6) Your arms rest comfortably at your sides.

Imagine a small pea-sized ball under each armpit to create a small space.

Zhan Zhuang has 200 postures with different arm and leg positions, but in the beginning, you need not concern yourself with your arms. Just keep your hands and arms relaxed and loose, as they hang to your sides.

7) The palms of your hands face toward your hips.

Because of the small space under your armpits, your hands won’t touch your hips; instead, they will hang about two to three inches from your hips.

8) Tuck your chin inward.

Gently tuck your chin inward and up toward the top of your head. This opens the area where your spine meets your skull, extending the crown further upward.

9) Allow your lower vertebrae to skin down.

Most of us hold a great deal of tension in our lower backs. This tension will release over time as your practice deepens.

Most people have a natural “s” curve in their spine. One of the primary aims of this standing posture is to reduce the curvature of the spine (but not straighten it) to open the flow of energy. This occurs over time by maintaining the correct posture with your crown extending upward while the rest of your body sinks down (from the inside).

10) Keep your eyes slightly open with a soft gaze ahead of you.

Keeping your eyes fully open can lead to distractions and closing them can lead to tiredness (or “oblivion”).

A soft gaze with eyes almost closed provides the optimal conditions when you’re first learning this or any other meditation.

11) Place your tongue gently on your palate.

Your lips are barely closed (just touching). Relax your jaw muscles and any muscles you can isolate in your face region.

standing meditation zhan zhaungsource

How to Stand: Principles to Keep in Mind

As stated above, the key to Zhan Zhuang is relaxation while maintaining correct alignment.

A few pointers to assist you:

  • Breathe quietly, slowly, and comfortably through your nose. Feel your whole body relax deeper with every exhale.
  • Avoid forcing your breath; keep it calm and steady. Eventually, you will not pay attention to your breathing at all.
  • Avoid using physical strength. Rest on your skeletal structure as much as possible.
  • Be gentle with yourself. “Trying” to stand will increase tension.

Your first aim is to sink all of your muscle tension from the upper torso. To assist you in this effort, you might try placing all of your attention on your feet first.

Wang Ziang Zhai, considered the foremost master and father of contemporary forms of Zhan Zhuang, explains:

In the study of the method of standing … the most important thing is to avoid exerting ourselves either mentally or physically. If we use physical strength, our energy, or qi, will be congested and blocked. When our qi is blocked, our intention, or Yi, is stopped. When our intention is blocked, our spirit, or shen, will be distracted. And when our spirit is distracted, we will be deluded into thinking we’re making progress while actually we’re regressing.

You might want to read the above quote numerous times. It can save you a lot of time and energy.

How to Locate and Dissolve Tension

Once you feel you’re in the correct standing posture, you can turn your attention to the various places you’re holding tension throughout your body.

  1. Start at the top of the head and scan your body downward. Notice any tension in your forehead, jaw, mouth, neck, shoulders, and so on.
  2. When you locate an area of tension, breathe into that area (via your intention) and allow the tension to dissolve and sink downward.
  3. If the tension doesn’t release after breathing into it several times, move on to the next area.
  4. Once you have done your best to release the tension, you can just rest in this Wuji posture.

Periodically remind yourself to stay loose and sink downward (without dropping your head or shoulders).

zhan zhuang standing meditation

Helpful Tips for Beginners

In the beginning, getting your skeletal structure in proper alignment can take time, so be patient with yourself.

You might try focusing on one or two points of alignment at a time, adding more points of alignment when you’re ready.

Once you are familiar with this basic standing posture, it will become second nature to you.

When you’re first starting out:

  • Practice in front of a mirror from several angles to get a better sense of your body positioning.
  • If you’re having trouble releasing tension, try raising up your shoulders and tensing your whole body for a few seconds. Then release the tension.

Putting your attention on your feet and feeling the weight of your body there will help you redistribute your energy away from your head. This provides a calmer, clearer mind.

You can use this posture when you’re waiting in a line, pumping gas, or any time you’re standing. It’s ideal to practice Zhan Zhuang outside, in a natural environment.

You can also use the same principles for walking around and sitting at your desk as well.

How Long to Practice Zhan Zhuang

To gain the optimal qigong health benefits from this standing practice, 40 minutes per day is generally prescribed.

However, many teachers and practitioners suggest starting with only 1 or 2 minutes of practice.

You’ll frequently build new tension over time as your body falls out of proper alignment.

If you know you will stand for only 2 minutes, your mind is less likely to drift its attention from the practice.

Just standing in this manner for a few minutes when you’re stressed, can calm your mind and increase your level of energy and mental clarity.

In 10 to 20 minutes of practice, which you can build over time, you can recharge and gain a new perspective on whatever you’re doing.

Generally speaking, in these standing systems, you want to be able to comfortably stand for at least 20 minutes in a given posture before moving on to the next posture.

Finally, if you are practicing Zhan Zhuang for martial arts purposes (internal power), a minimum of one full hour a day is recommended. (I know numerous practitioners who stood for a minimum of four to five hours a day as part of their martial training.)

What Zhan Zhuang Feels Like in the Beginning

Professor Yu Yong Nian classified the various sensations practitioners often experience within the first six weeks of practice.

These sensations include:

  • Numbness,
  • Aching,
  • Warmth,
  • Shaking,
  • Asymmetry, and
  • Relaxation.

You 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.

A curiosity in these sensations leads to further internal discoveries about your body.

If you’re successful in releasing tension and sinking your energy downward, your feet will get heavy—very heavy. It may feel as though they are glued to the ground (hence, “being rooted”).

When you release tension in your upper body, your arms may fill up with energy. It can feel like they are being propelled away from your body by a magnetic force.

zhan zhuang

When Your Body Shakes …

One of the most notable experiences many practitioners have in the early stages of Zhan Zhuang is trembling and shaking. It can be a shocking experience.

I would have been alarmed when this occurred if I wasn’t warned about it in advance.

My body would often shake uncontrollably for minutes at a time (and sometimes much longer).

This experience can happen within the first few minutes of practice, but it’s more likely to occur after the 15-minute mark.

This shaking is therapeutic. And if it happens to you, allow it. It will stop eventually.

From the perspective of bioenergetics, this is your “body armor” breaking down. When under any traumatic or stressful experiences, all mammals shake.4David Berceli, Explanation of TRE from medical history (Youtube), 2014.

Humans, however, tend to repress or push down this response to intense negative emotions. This leads us to store the trauma in our bodies.

There are various trauma release exercises available designed to induce these tremors to help people release stored trauma from their bodies.5https://traumaprevention.com/what-is-tre/

With Zhan Zhuang, these tremors often occur by standing still in the proper body alignment.

How to Close Your Standing Meditation

When you’ve completed your session, slowly rock your feet back and forth and side to side.

If you are standing for a while (at least 15 to 20 minutes), you can place your hands on top of your navel region for a few minutes.

Then, gently shake and tap around your body with your hands to release any stagnant energy that may have built up during your practice.

If you know any basic qigong exercises, you might do them now as well.

Why Zhan Zhuang is an Ideal Exercise

When performing most exercises like running, your heart and respiratory rate quicken until they reach a point where you have to stop.

This leaves you fatigued, requiring an extended period of recovery. Plus, most of these exercises can damage your body over time.

With Zhan Zhuang practice, your body will still get fatigued (if you do it long enough).

However, your heart rate barely changes and your respiration improves.6Yu Yong Nian, The Search for Wu, 2006.

Additionally, your blood circulation becomes more regular. Done properly, you’ll be more energized after even brief practice sessions.

Imagine an exercise that has all the health benefits of aerobic exercise, but that leaves you relaxed and energized.

Working With a Teacher versus Going Solo

I’ve done my best to provide you with sufficient initial instruction so you can get started. However, if you decide to pursue Zhan Zhuang further, I recommend finding a qualified instructor in your local area.

While having an instructor may not be vital, a good one will be able to correct your posture and alignment quickly and repeatedly.

In fact, a highly trained practitioner can tell you what’s out of alignment within seconds of watching you stand.

My teachers used to adjust my posture with light pressure from a single finger. What’s amazing is that most of the time, I could feel the difference after they made their adjustment—oftentimes, instantly.

Any qualified qigong instructor should have a strong background in standing.

However, if you can’t find a qualified teacher, practice in front of a full-length mirror and pay close attention to your posture and alignments.


Boost Your Energy with a Digital App?

Eric Thompson is an inventor and founder of Subtle Energy Sciences.

Using quantum resonance technology, Eric engineered a method of encoding digital images with specific energy signatures.

The result is what he calls Digital Mandalas or Quantum Energy Apps, which combine beautiful digital art with layers of various energy-related sound technology.

If you’re open to exploring new technologies as an aid to supporting your self-development, check out Eric’s Audio Rejuvenation program—a combination of digital mandalas and audio tracks specifically designed to help replenish your primal essence.

Use code CEOSAGE30 for a 30% discount on Audio Rejuvenation.

I always have at least one digital mandala running on my desktop and my other devices.

Now, if you don’t have energetic sensitivity, you may feel nothing at first. If that’s the case, Eric offers various ways to augment and optimize the effects.

(Disclaimer: affiliate links above.)


Getting Started With Standing Practice

Below is Day 1 of a 10-part video series by Lam Kam Chuen, a student of Professor Yu, who walks you through the basics of Zhan Zhuang.

Stand while you watch!

Summary: Zhan Zhuang: Standing Like a Tree

Zhan Zhuang is a standing meditation where you stand still in an upright posture. The initial posture we covered above is called Wuji.

The initial goal is to relax and sink all the tension in your body.

This standing method cultivates the body’s natural energy called chi.

It’s a simple yet transformative practice with extraordinary mental and physical benefits. You can practice it anywhere.

Zhan Zhuang offers a fast and effective means to recharge your energy, reduce stress, gain superior mental clarity, and stay focused.

Zhan Zhuang Related Reading

qigong way of energy

The Way of Energy by Lam Kam Chuen


A Comprehensive Guide to Neigong by Damo Mitchell

Zhan Zhuang: The Art of Nourishing Life by Yu Yong Nian

Read Next

This in-depth guide is part of a meditation series:

Part 1: How to Tune Your Breath
Part 2: Sitting Meditation Essentials
Part 3: Best Meditation Postures
Part 4: Zhan Zhuang Standing Practice [You are here]
Part 5: Meditation Tools

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