Beginner's Guide to Standing Meditation

Meditation doesn’t have to be from some contorted seated position.  Not everyone can sit in full lotus!  When first learning meditation, we want to cultivate stillness within, through stillness of the body.  This can be done seated in a chair or even standing.  With practice, you’ll be able to bring this stillness into your daily life.

Let’s start with a focus on standing meditation.

Just standing still takes some effort from me.  Constantly jumping from task to task.  Making mental lists.  Realizing, “Oh, I didn’t stretch yet today”.  And checking the phone messages, one...more...time.

Standing meditation is about cultivating stillness and allowing these thoughts and urges to come and go. See them like waves crashing on the shore.  Instead of thinking, “Oh, I need to hang on to that thought”, just observe it and let it go.  

As far as worrying about time, set a timer, then let that go too.  

Standing posture should be relaxed and sustainable.  A slight bend in the knees, relaxed shoulders, and arms at your sides.

Next, pick a focus.  The simplest focus that is always available is the breath.  Start by counting the breaths from 1 to 10.  After 10, start back at 1.  If your mind starts to wander or you forget your place, simply notice that and start back at one.  Do you have an itch you need to scratch?  Go ahead, scratch it, then start back at 1.

The goal is not to reach some heightened state of enlightenment.  But rather, to promote stillness, and in that stillness, find an awareness of your thoughts and how they come and go.  To ride the waves of thought, that is meditation practice.

Good luck in your efforts!