Have you ever heard about standing meditation? For most people, the answer to this would be a quick no. If you were to ask someone how they meditate or how they think people practice meditation, you would most probably get two very common answers; sitting cross-legged on a comfortable surface or lying down on a bed, yoga, or exercise mat.
The answer is in the name. Instead of meditating while sitting or lying down, those who practice standing meditation choose to find their Zen while on their feet, standing still. While this practice may be new to those in the West, it has long been practiced by people and different cultures in the East.
An interesting fact about standing meditation is that, while it is also practiced in India, it is unlike other forms of this exercise, as it did not originate from this country. This form of meditation is believed to have originated from China, as some of its techniques like Qigong, Zhang Zhuang, Wuji, and Yiquan are quite popular in Chinese tradition (1). In yoga, the closest form of standing meditation posture is the Tadasana or ‘The Mountain pose.’
While this practice is done while standing up, the different techniques all come with slightly different variations on how to properly do it. In light of this, before determining how to do a standing meditation, it is best to study and understand all techniques, and that way, you can choose the best one for you.
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The Zhang Zhuang standing meditation posture is believed to be the original technique and that all other postures are derived from it. This technique is also referred to as standing-like-a-tree, post-standing, pile-standing, standing-on-stake, or pylon-standing.
Here is how to properly do it (2):
Like the Zhang Zhuang technique, the mountain pose, aka Tadasana, is regarded as the foundation of all other standing yoga asanas (11).
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Of all the standing meditation techniques, this may possibly be the hardest and the one that causes the most discomfort. Those who practice this stance believe in powering through the discomfort, not by clenching your teeth and bearing the strain, but by releasing the body into the posture with focus and purpose (1).
Trying to determine whether to do meditation before or after a workout can be confusing. Unless you are combining it with some yoga poses and movements to stretch the muscles, it could be quite confusing as to why you should include a meditation session in a workout routine.
The first thing to remember is that unlike a HIIT workout or a 30 to 45 minutes weight lifting session, the benefits of meditation are not often physical. Standing meditation and meditation, in general, is good for our mental and overall health. On the question of when the practice should be done before or after a workout, the answer is both.
The standing meditation benefits before a workout include (3):
Going into a workout routine without fully focusing on your actions may result in injury. Standing meditation helps you center your thoughts, allowing you to pay full attention to your workout session.
When you combine standing meditation and body canning, it helps you take note of what areas of your body are experiencing tension, weakness, or pain. Taking note of such factors ensures that you have better control of your routine and body.
Meditation is well-known for its benefits towards lowering stress, depression, and anxiety levels in people. Exercise does the same thing through the release of endorphins (aka the body’s happiness hormone).
Standing meditation can also be beneficial after a workout. It is a form of a cool-down that allows both your body and brain to relax from and acknowledge the taxing effort that you have put it through (6).
Whether you choose to meditate while sitting, standing, kneeling, or lying down, the overall benefits of this practice remain the same. They include:
In 2013, a clinical psychology review of over 200 studies revealed that mindful meditation is an especially effective practice to help counter and reduce stress, anxiety, and depression (7).
According to Harvard Medical School, this practice helps with distracting thoughts, something that plagues most people with anxiety. It enables them to distinguish between a problem-solving thought and a nagging worry that has no benefit (10).
Read More: Meditation and Stress: How Can Meditating Reduce Anxiety?
A 2015 study done on older adults showed that those who practiced standardized mindful awareness practices showed significant improvements in insomnia, depression symptoms, fatigue interference, and fatigue severity, as compared to those who practiced sleep hygiene education (8).
A 2008 randomized controlled Dutch trial involving 17 university students revealed that meditation had a significant and large effect on OCD symptoms (13).
While this fact requires more research, a 2016 review looking into the effects of meditation on circulating and stimulated inflammatory proteins, cellular transcription factors and gene expression, immune cell count, immune cell aging, as well as antibody response stated that meditation showed possible effects on specific markers of inflammation, cell‐mediated immunity, and biological aging (9).
Other benefits of meditation include promoting kindness and compassion towards yourself and others, increasing imagination and creativity, improving focus and attention, relieving headaches, and promoting mindfulness, among others (5).
With that being said, deep posture standing meditation seems to have a few more benefits than other positions used in this practice (12).
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Since it can be hard to find a balance between meditation and complete relaxation, many people – beginners and experts alike – can be surprised to wake up and find that they took a quick power nap instead of meditating. Choosing to stand while meditating is a great way to prevent yourself from falling asleep.
Standing meditation is also said to help improve balance, bone density, power, awareness, body alignment, the efficiency of movements, and mind-body connection (14).
Meditation while upright is quite convenient as it requires no such tools. Whenever you feel overwhelmed – be it at work or during a family gathering-, all you require is a quiet spot away from people for you to practice the exercise and calm your frayed nerves.
Both postures offer the same benefits. However, if you are having a problem with staying awake or want to work on bettering your posture, then you should consider standing while meditating.
While standing meditation might not be a common practice as either sitting or lying down, it has the same if not more benefits than these two common techniques. If you are bored of the same meditation stance or postures or are finding it hard to meditate, take on the challenge of learning either of the above standing meditation postures.
While they may feel awkward and hard at first, with practice, you may find yourself standing still, meditating and letting awareness flow through you no matter where you are. Standing meditation mindfulness is a simple practice that is beneficial to everyone irrespective of age or experience.
This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional advice or help and should not be relied on to make decisions of any kind. A licensed physician should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any medical conditions. Any action you take upon the information presented in this article is strictly at your own risk and responsibility!