Have You Ever Stood with Yourself?

Have you ever stood with yourself, felt the tension in your body, noticed the emotions rising to the surface? Have you ever wondered if you could hold a posture for a minute, and then a minute more?

The other day, we came across a short video where the speaker talked about how standing in particular poses could make a person feel more confident when going into situations that made them anxious. We looked at each other and said – that’s standing stake!

While the video didn’t get into the neurological or physical aspects of why this technique works, it’s one of those things where people do it without understanding why they do it, but they do because they know it works.

Zhan Zhuang or Standing Still Like a Tree, or what we often refer to in our classes as Standing Stake – is an exercise or series of exercises in which you hold a particular posture for a length of time. The posture shown in the above picture is from a set of 9 standing stake postures – above is shown “Wading through the Shallow Stream”. Typically, postures are done in what is called a horse stance – feet, knees and hips facing forward, pelvis tucked in slightly, knees bent and legs rotated out from the hip joint (which pushes the knees outward as if you were riding a horse).

The horse stance has significant effect on the body because it works on many levels. It helps to stack the bones in such a way that it opens the fascia and works the flexibility of the connective tissue around the joints. It strengthens the body by holding it for a period of time while rooted to the earth. It has a grounding effect this way.

While performing standing stake, it is important to place the tongue on the roof of the mouth and breathe in and out through the nose. This facilitates the production of radiant heat in the body that is important for the movement of fourth phase water in and around cells. It also engaged the vagus nerve which has a calming effect on the nervous system. Over time, you can rewire your nervous system by practicing various arm postures along with the horse stance for maximum benefit. This helps with anxiety, and mental health in general when your nervous system is more regulated.

The longer you stand, the more you feel where you are holding tension in your body and can learn to actively relax it. You will also discover how easily your mind gets distracted, or what stuck emotions you have in the body. You become more aware of your mental and emotional spaces by learning to stand still.

It also opens up the meridian channels around the body for better energy flow. It increases qi, lymph, and blood flow in the body, and holding the arms overhead also works the cardiovascular system without stressing the body.

If you’ve never done it before, we recommend holding a posture for ten breaths, then increase to twenty and so on. You can even set a timer for one minute and increase as you feel stronger to stand for longer periods of time.

In a world that constantly has us on the go, standing stake practice will help you regulate yourself physically, emotionally, and mentally. It is important to take time to be still but we don’t often allow ourselves the time and our minds can convince us that we are “wasting time”. Learning to stand with yourself is an important tool on your wellness journey, and one that will have benefits that last a lifetime.

We will be teaching some of these techniques at our upcoming workshop Spring into Rebirth: Sunday, March 17th from 12noon-2pm CST. For more information and to register, click HERE

For a comprehensive course and practice of Zhan Zhuang, sign up on our web app. Initial sign up is free, take a look at the course, and make the in-app purchase. You can also download the Passion.io app to your phone too! Web App

On the podcast, Kellie led listeners through an inner child meditation to provide deeper Love and healing. Let us know what you think. You can listen to it on Spotify, or your favourite podcast platform.

We’d love to see you in one of our classes! Thursday evening from 7-8pm at White Lion Strong Gym, please join us for some standing stand and circle walking. For more info, click HERE