Zhan Zhuang – Stand Still and Be Fit

I just finished doing a 10 minute zhan zhuang session following the instruction of Kam Lam Chuen.  My first exposure of Zhan Zhuang was through Master’s Lam’s book, The Way of Energy: Mastering the Chinese Art of Internal Strength with Chi Kung Exercise
, borrowed to me by my college taiji instructor. The video below includes a warm-up exercise, instruction on a standing posture, and a cool-down exercise.  I picked up a couple of pointers on arm positioning on the wuji posture, so all is good! During the session, I still felt a bit of tension in my right hip, but not nearly as much as I did a couple of days ago.  Additionally, I noticed some dissolving in the my shoulders that felt like a bit of tingling under and in between my shoulder blades. Whenever I feel this, I am reminded of how much tension we can carry with us throughout the day. If you have never done any zhan zhuang before, now is the perfect time to give it a try. Watch the video and follow along.  Be sure not to stop holding the posture until the cool-down exercise is covered!