5. Mindful Standing

This week I’d like to bring something a bit different into focus. Over the past while, we explored a number of topics that could feel quite deep, poignant, and vulnerable. This week I’d like to keep things lean and go quite quickly into practice. The practice is mindful standing. Something like standing can feel so seemingly mundane. Yet everything that seems mundane could also hold a great deal of lessons and wonder.

The practice of bringing mindfulness into standing is a nice reminder that we don’t really need to spend a lot of time in sitting meditation in order to practice mindfulness. To me this is a great and simple way of introducing mindfulness into our everyday lives.

And it's important to keep in mind that there are many ways to practice standing meditation. You might find other variations that work best for you. And the encouragement is in exploring what works. If it's not possible for you to comfortably stand, you can do this practice sitting, or even, if you like, lying down, as this is really a form of practice that is about being fully present in the senses and in the body.

Without further ado, I’d like to invite you to join me for a short meditation on mindful standing.

You can close your eyes or keep them down cast, whichever feels most comfortable right now.

So if you like, and if you can, come into a standing position and keep a slight bend in your knees. bringing your feet comfortably under your hips. We're going to bring mindful attention to the senses, starting at the feet and working our way up.

Now bringing your awareness to the bottom of your feet, where they meet the ground. What does it feel like to contact the ground with your feet? Notice the sensations that arise, and feel into the texture of the surface you’re standing on.

Gently lift the toes, and place toes down slowly, one by one. Notice what sensations are arising there. Once all your toes have been placed, check to see how your weight is balancing between the two feet. Do you notice any imbalances in weight distribution? Is one foot carrying more weight then the other? If it’s available to you and you’d like, see if you can adjust your weight so it’s evenly distributed.

Bringing your awareness upwards into your knees, what sensations do you notice there? If you’re experiencing hyperextension or locking of the knees, gently release them and let them soften.

Now, you can bring your attention to your sacrum, belly, and lower back. What sensations do you notice there? there are a few ways of exploring aligning your pelvis. One is to tighten your buttocks. As you tighten the buttocks, you may notice your tailbone drawing under slightly. Intentionally releasing that tightness, letting yourself relax, while still maintaining the slightly drawn under alignment of the tailbone.

Bringing the awareness to the belly, and let it soften. Imagine the belly of a baby, soft, relaxed, and undefended. Is it possible to relax and soften the belly and lower abdomen right now?

You may find that yes, my belly is relaxed, only to notice later that it has unconsciously tensed up again. Feel free to come back again and again to revisit the belly and sense if it’s possible to soften and feel that undefended place. If that feels safe for you to explore.

The next place to bring your attention to is the back of your neck and the base of your skull. Is it possible to soften there? Imagine softening your neck, like melting butter, while lengthening through the back of the neck.

Bringing attention to your jaw and mouth, what are you feeling there? Do you notice any tensing, clenching? If so, gently relax the jaw and feel the muscles around the mouth. Can you feel the weight of your tongue? The volume of your lips?

Feeling now through the shoulders, you might gently roll your shoulders up and forward, then gently up and back. Can you feel the weight and length of your arms? Bring your awareness from the shoulders to the elbows, to your wrists, and then the hands.

Sensing from the inside, can you feel the volume of your palms? Feeling the space between your fingers, and notice the volume of your fingers.

In your deep relaxation and alertness, sense throughout the body. Is there anything that could relax or soften? Is there anything that could relax and soften even more?

We’ll explore another element of this practice, which is the eyes. If your eyes are closed, sense what it’s like inside right now with your eyes closed. If you like, let your eyes open gently, keeping your gaze soft and explore your peripheral vision. Sensing the space surrounding your body. Can you explore the feeling of being deeply relaxed, and at the same time alert?

Opening up your awareness further, what’s it like to receive sounds, perception of light, sensations with this quality of relaxed awareness?

You might again close your eyes. And what is the quality of presence right now? What do you feel inside right now? What has shifted over these minutes of mindful standing?

Thank you for practicing mindful standing with me today.

I find mindful standing a really simple way of incorporating a bit of mindfulness into a busy day of activities. You can use it as a simple pause and re-arrive in the hear and now. The next time you find yourself in the midst of overwhelm, or the continuous churn of life, see if you can bring attention into the feet, and then bring the awareness upwards from there.

Before we go back to our everyday activities, I’d like to leave you with an inquiry, how might mindful standing be helpful to you in your everyday life?