Why Standing Meditation Matters: Cultivating Energy Flow and Softness in Tai Chi, Qigong and Life

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8 ай бұрын

Susan Thompson Tai Chi delves into the transformative practice of standing meditation (Zhan Zhuang), a cornerstone in Tai Chi and Qigong. This holistic approach extends beyond physical exercise to influence our daily life. Central to these practices is the retraining of muscles, emphasizing reliance on fascia, bones, tendons, and ligaments over exertion or controlling with our muscles and mind. This shift facilitates effective movement, alleviates joint pain, and fosters inner peace.
In the realm of energy flow, Susan highlights the pivotal role of releasing muscle tension and allowing the fascia to open. This not only enhances ease of movement but also stimulates the meridian flow of Qi Energy, promoting overall well-being. Analogizing frozen tension to a metaphorical frozen wave, Susan underscores how the goal of standing meditation is to thaw and transform this rigidity into a gentle flow.
Susan weaves in a captivating narrative of the frozen wave, enhancing the viewer's understanding of the parallels between physical tension and the goal of Standing Meditation, Tai Chi, and Qigong. Susan expertly guides the audience through a standing meditation session, emphasizing body awareness, tension release, and connection with internal energy.
The practice of standing meditation encourages the embracement of stillness, the expansion of awareness, and the infusion of each cell with revitalizing light energy.
Elevate your well-being through Susan's insightful exploration of standing meditation and its profound impact on softening both body and mind.
For private lessons, retreats, workshops and live streaming lessons & classes, please visit Susan at: www.taichisusan.com
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/ flowingmobilitytaich
Thanks for letting me part of your Tai Chi Journey!

Пікірлер: 9

@Andy-il7kf 7 ай бұрын

Lovely, thank you :)

@InternalTaiChi 7 ай бұрын

Thank you! 😊

@philipr8245 7 ай бұрын

Dear Suzan, I appreciate a lot your view points on meditation and taichi in general. A lot is new to me. I free dive for over 40 years even though I'm 62 now...can one meditate in the ocean while free diving? I am applying songing my body while diving, utilizing breathing practice and expanding my joints while descending, heart rate is really going down and my bottom time has increased significantly...can I suggest that this muscle release is meditation even though i am 10 meters deep...very comfortable sensation..

@InternalTaiChi 7 ай бұрын

What an interesting application of songing the joints and opening your fascia! I would think the act of free diving is meditative in nature in order to be successful with it. You are adding additional layers by transferring additional knowledge and concepts. The fact that your heart rate is slowing down and your dive time is up, is proof positive. Well done! Thank you for sharing and leaving a comment unique to your experience.

@afimsel5161 7 ай бұрын

hi susan how we can apply songing in breath thank you

@InternalTaiChi 7 ай бұрын

It is important not to focus on the breath. As soon as we focus on the breath it becomes contrived and forced. Rather, become aware of pouring your tension out and away from you and "filling" with emptiness; like inflating your arms, legs and trunk. When you do all of these things, your breath will be natural and perfectly as it should be. If you try to "song" with your breath, you are forcing a notion instead of allowing it to happen as a natural byproduct of releasing and finding softness. I hope this helps clarify!

@Andy-il7kf 7 ай бұрын

@Flowingmobility This was a great question and a surprising answer to me. Susan might you do a video on that someday? Specifically about when its right to focus on breath and when not? In so many other moving things I have learned (yoga, Aikido, climbing, weight training etc) breath is something i have been told to control in many circumstances and to try learn to use it to my advantage - so I am fascinated to learn how/when NOT to use it too

@InternalTaiChi 7 ай бұрын

@@Andy-il7kf Thank you, Andy. In Tai Chi, we never should focus on the breath. If we do, it is already to much "focus" and that disrupts the balance. If you check out my video on Four Common Mistakes, and also the one on Postural Alignment, these will give you more insight into how the breath is mitigated in Tai Chi through our postural, arm height, and placement of our awareness. These other arts you mentioned may require you to place your focus on the act of breathing in order to center you or focus you. However, in Tai Chi it works the other way around: Correct posture = natural breath = calm focus without effort. I also just filmed a podcast and the subject of breath came up in that episode (first episode). It will be posted on my KZfaq channel soon. Thanks for watching and commenting!

@Andy-il7kf 7 ай бұрын

@Flowingmobility thank you very much for the info, and I will watch those :) Edit: Isee I had already watched them! Clearly I need to pay more attention 😂 I think I need to pick one thing to learn for now, for a while: perhaps this breath issue will be it.