Full Circle Standing Meditation

I have been practicing my standard and basic meditation for years. It never even occurred to me to explore other alternative methods and see what would happen until I started taking a Qigong class. In one of the classes we learned about a variety of different meditation techniques, including standing meditations.

Standing meditations can be rather powerful. According to Chinese theory, standing meditations help strengthen your willpower. They also can take you down new doors you may not have known were even available. In my standing meditation, known as the Full Circle Standing Meditation, I was able to visualize some loved ones who are no longer here on the earth. I didn't "physically see" them with my eyes, but I could "mentally see" them during the meditation. This was an unexpected result of this Fu

Here is the standing meditation we learned in class. It is known as a Full Circle Standing Meditation. In the diagram below is the example of each of the different standing postures used in the meditation.

You begin in a relaxed stand. You tuck in your perineum, relax your arms, and take in some deep breaths. You keep your eyes open. This position is sometimes called the Wuji posture. In this position you start to get your Qi or energy flowing. You can see an example of this is the diagram. If the diagram were a clock, the example would be at the 12:00 position. You stand in the Wuji posture for 2 minutes.

Next you transition to the pose at 9:00 o'clock. This is sometimes called the immortal standing pose. In this position it looks like you are holding an inflated ball in front of your torso. Again, your eyes are open and you stand in this position for 5 minutes.

Next you raise your arms above your head as if you are lifting a barbell. This position harmonizes us with the heavens and in this position we receive heavenly Qi. You stand in this position for 5 minutes.

You then move to a position where you lower your arms and hands, almost as if you are standing in still, calm water level with your belly button. You place your hands on top of the water and allow your hands to float. Visualizing being in water and your hands floating helps your arms stay up. This position harmonizes yourself to the earthly Qi.

You stay in the "floating water position" for 5 minutes and then transition to the stance where it looks like you are holding a ball at the same level as your belly button. In the diagram example, this is the 3:00 position and you stay in this position 5 minutes.

You next move to what looks like you are holding a ball at your belly button. In this position you are gathering all the Qi around you and holding it within your abdomen. I like to think of Qi coming into me and nourishing me. You stand in this position for 5 minutes.

Finally you move to the first position, the Wuji position, the 12:00 position in the diagram. You stay in this position for 2 minutes.

You can increase or even decrease the time spent in each of these positions based on the amount of time you have available and also based on your desired end results. According to Qigong theory, a standing meditation is the most difficult of the meditations and also the most potent.

When I do a standing meditation, I stay more focused and as a result seem to have some connections with spiritual messages and visualizations that are not always there when I do a sitting and more relaxed meditation.

You may decide to explore this alternative type of meditation and see what happens to you, too.

Full Circle Standing Meditation