Here is a wonderful ~simple and powerful~ Taoist meditation practice, which can be done both outdoors (in a beautiful natural setting is best!) or indoors. It is similar in many ways to Buddhist. shamata sitting meditation practice, but ~ and hence the name! ~ you are standing. (So, for one thing, you’re less likely to fall asleep… J)
Start by standing with your feet parallel and shoulder-width apart. Take a couple of long, deep breaths, saying “aaah” (either out loud or to yourself) with the exhalations. Release any tension you find in your shoulders, neck, or face ~ simply let it “melt” on the exhale… as if that tension were a frozen river, now being touched by a warm sun, and flowing downward, like the gentle cascade of a waterfall, forming pools at your feet. Feel your energy, your consciousness, settling in your feet, legs, hips and belly, connecting you strongly with the earth. Bend your knees slightly ~ enough to feel a softness at the back of your knees.
Let your arms hang by your sides, so your thumbs gently touch the outside of your thighs (meaning the backs of your hands are facing forward). Spread your fingers apart and down so they are straight without being stiff, and there is space between each pair of fingers (as if you had webbed fingers). Now float your hands straight ahead, three to four inches, so that they are now floating just in front of (but still on the sides of) your thighs. This should create a feeling of emptiness in your armpits. Let your elbows bend just enough to create a soft feeling in them.
Now pick a vantage point, eight or ten feet in front of you. Rest your eyes very gently on that spot (or area). (Meditation Masters of the past have discovered that there is a connection between the movement of our eyes and the movement of thoughts in our mind… So keeping the eyes still is a wonderful way to calm the mind.) place you are looking inherit your eyes, instead of reaching out (with the energy of your eyes) to “grab” it. In other words, let your eyes become receptive, rather than active… Relax your jaw, so there is space between your upper and lower teeth, even though your lips are gently closed.
So now that you are in the standing Qigong meditation position, stay here for a while. Once you have arranged yourself in this way, there is not much to “do”. Just realize what it’s like to be here, in this position.
If you are new to the practice, hold the position for a couple of minutes. You can make minor adjustments as you feel are necessary for your comfort, but the idea is to move as little as possible. Once you have the correct alignment of the pose, holding it in a fairly “still” manner will help. internal movements of Qi/ life force that will be very pleasant and healing. As you continue this practice, over weeks, months, or years, you will be able to hold the position for longer periods of time (30 minutes, an hour). But in the beginning, a couple of minutes is wonderful!
