What's the Most Important Qigong Exercise - And Why Is It Zhan Zhuang? Standing Taoist Meditation 

FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT DOING ZHAN ZHUANG. I started zhan zhuang in 2018 at age 71 and have practiced every day since then. Until 6 months ago it was all I did. Now I do both tai chi and zhan zhuang. So I think age is no reason not to begin. I train at home, self-directed, and change my routine fairly often. At times I have done 2-3 hours total in a day, Now I do 45-60 minutes, about evenly split. I can easily go an hour in a single standing meditation but the health and fitness results are better when I do 15-30 minutes. Some of the principals (balance, relaxation, focus) carry over to everyday 24/7 life. YOU CAN START AT 2 MINUTES IN A POSE. That is what I did. After a week or so I did 5. After a week of that I did a 15 minute medley of 6 poses. You just bootstrap your way to better form for longer periods at whatever pace works for you. WHY DO IT? WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS? I guess different for everyone but definitely will see areas of improvement in health, fitness, and performance of sports and martial arts.

Very nice - I especially liked "The river needs the river banks". Lucid, coherent, well presented, convincing.

It's from my personal experience, that if you start with warm up, then some qigung, and whatever other forms you parctice, we do Zhan Zhuang at the end to bring everything to calm and center, most impostantly at the end of Zhan Zhuang must place hand over hand over belly to center all the energies. My favourite sequence at the moment is Shaolin ba duan jin the way Shi Huan Yi teaches

I appreciate you sharing your knowledge of Qigong,.The fact that you personally experienced healing from your practice makes it even more special.

I totally agree zhang zhuang is the most important. I had very painful eye strain yesterday and the moment I started doing zhang zhuang I felt a relief and could sleep well. I don't how to explain it. Thanks for posting.

I did standing practice, building up to half an hour every day for about four months. I developed blockages in my body because I wasn't doing enough tendon stretches to open the channels. I built so much Qi I basically blew a fuse. I went light sensitive for a month, was tripping non stop for two weeks and basically had so much energy moving through my body, at times I thought my heart might give out. I'm an otherwise completely healthy person. In many ways it was positive as it cleared huge amounts of early childhood conditioning in a very short space of time and at times was euphoric. But overall I inadvertently fried myself and at times it was terrifying. My experience was unusual however, I would highly recommend learning how to anchor the breath properly during these practices. They are very powerful and should be approached with a clear understanding of what you are actually doing.

I am so pleased you are emphasizing this practice. It is a body and meditative practice. Relaxing into it is essential. Thank you!

I used to do this a lot when i was younger. I managed to build it up to 1 hour regularly. My record is 2 hours. After i did that 2 hours standing, when i came out of it, it was like i couldnt feel the ground. Like i was floataing and all of my muscles and joints felt like they had been washed with melted butter! Just walking down the street felt amazing. And i started to be very aware of chi all around me in the air. Breathing in the chi made me euphoric! I almost believed i could see the chi in the air. Am not so sure now. But i rembemer that the chi in the air that was making me high, kinda scared me a bit. So i stopped standing for so long and went into other things. Now i want to get back to that state that i lost. :) Cheers.

I truly enjoy your teaching methods

Beautiful! I love this in-depth explanation of what is becoming one of my favorite postures. It seems that 7 minutes is my current 'wall' when the shoulders really start to cramp. My goal for the first half of 2021 is to get to 10 minutes with ease. I love the crashing waves in the background too, and the video quality was fine for me. Never apologize for your amazing offerings here, Nick. You are a huge force in my life at the moment. Much love, much light, for a blessed Yuletide. 🎄❤️

My calves were on fire almost immediately! Not sure what that's all about but I"ll be practicing this more often to find out :). Thank you for all that you do, Nick! You certainly have a gift for teaching.

I’m in , love the clear explanations , clear and simple .. thank you 🙏

I began practising Zhan Zhuang 30 days ago. I found this video very helpful. Thank you!

Thank you Nick for the informative explanation. As a newcomer to qigong it is much appreciated. Blessings to you an thank you for been a positive force.

Missed you live by "this" much. Luckily, all time is happening all the time. Thank you , once more, for sharing your wisdom and your gifts. To you , Nick, and to all : May your days be merry and bright . May peace and grace be with us all.

Thank you Nick 🙏 as ever brilliant clear instructions and awareness.

Ha ha! First viewer, first student on that one!!! Great tips, I love your channel man! And the “frequency” or “wave length” of the sea behind was subliminally perfectly in sync with a very slow, deep and powerful breath! Amazing!!! Salutations de Montréal, Canada!

Hello Nick, I would like to thank you so much for your videos, I am in my late 50's and have taken up the Shaolin words of wisdom....'Action is life' your videos are simple and easy to understand. I got up early this morning and started with your Bioenergetic fitness 1 and the most important Qigong exercise...the stance...I am looking forward to continuing my pursuit of health and have decided to take up Shaolin Kung fu with a great instructor who believes in what you do...and yes I could feel your exercises way over here in Australia...hahaha

Hello Nick, thank you so much for making this wonderful work available to us! I live so far away and you teach me so many wonderful things!

this detailed guide is helpful, thank u

always love your backdrop

Brilliant explanation-Nick you are truly a wonderful Teacher. Beautiful setting for a truly magical experience. Thank you so much:)

Thanks for sharing nick! Merry Christmas and happy new year!🎄

Really good video on posture, which is a challenge for me. Looking forward to further videos on this theme Nick.

Thank you Nick. I'll enjoy this training for appropriate Zhan Zhuang posture. Beautiful setting! Happy New Year !!

Thanks Nick!!! Merry Christmas and happy holidays!!!💖🎅🎄✨♒ And the official ushering in the Aupicious Age of Aquarius ♒! 🔆 Let us Shine💞

Love this part of all chi gong.

Thank you Nick!

Thank you 🌠

Your a wealth of information!

Very helpful!

I love your channel 🌹

Love it

Thanks! One question about the hips/sacrum. I've heard some explanations stress a kind of tucked tailbone, but it seems the goal is a more "neutral" position for the hips, not a flexed "tucking" of the tailbone/thrusting of the pelvis. Is the goal more towards neutrality of hip rotation, i.e. neither tucked nor rear end sticking out, or is it more of a tucking of the tailbone?

Nice shirt!

Hello, just started this practice few days ago. 5 mins per day. I read here that someone had negative effects. Is this practice safe? Or does it have risks? Energy blockages, etc. I normally do tai chi after. Please share if you have any suggestions or tips how not to get into any trouble. I Plan doing this regularly. Thanks ❤

HELLO Nick I am practicing zz for 7 months now, I enjoy more doing 3, or 4 postures for 10 minutes than staying in one for example 20 minutes, it is quite challenging, but I can do it. That makes a total of 40 minutes daily practice What is your opinion about the benefits and progress for one way over the other, what would be best suitable for a beginner like me, but who wants to make the best out of practice? I practice Lam Kam Chuen style .

Thank you Nick for your guidance. I appreciate your explanation. I have a question for you. Doing these practices around 5 or 6pm, would that cause too much energy impeding proper sleeping ? I would appreciate knowing a couple of qi qong exercises to practice before going to bed. I tend to wake up around 3 am. Note that I suffer from insomnia but falls asleep fast but do wake up several times during the night. Thanks in advance if you can let me know. Best wishes. Corinne

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Wuji is different from Zhan Zhuang. Wuji is before you separate the body into the Yin and Yang of zhan zhuang.

But standing in a pose with no movement hurt my back....