The Wuji Posture: Standing in the Void
The Wuji stance doesn’t look like much, but looks can be deceiving. It could be said that of all the movements, Wuji is the single most important and foundational. All Qigong begins with Wuji and the Tai Chi Ch’uan form itself begins and ends with it. After thousands of years of observation and experimentation it is the quintessential stance that (when done correctly) achieves a perfect alignment, allowing energy to move freely throughout the body and preparing the mind to access a profound, meditative state.
The Meaning Behind Wuji
As with all Tai Chi / Qigong, complexity and mystical truth lie behind even the most seemingly trivial movement. Such is the case with Wuji, according to the ancient, Chinese texts before the universe existed there was emptiness and ‘a great void’. This was known as Wuji, or ‘the ultimate nothingness’, ‘the absence of extremes / extremities’. At a certain point, out of this emptiness, complexity and substance was born including the formation of duality (Yin / Yang).
When a Qigong practitioner stands in Wuji she/he literally personifies that pre-existent state. The posture expresses ‘no extremity, no separation’ and being ‘without differentiation’. Taiji (tai chi) on the other hand, can be translated as the ‘grand ultimate’, ‘grand extremity’ or literally the ‘very extreme’. Thus similar to the creation of the universe, the Taiji (Tai Chi) practitioner, moving from Wuji into the practice of the Taiji form, creates a polarity within the Wuji state and produces the two extremes known as Yin and Yang. Taiji is not Wuji, it is created from Wuji and it is the mother of Yin Yang. Taiji is the process between Wuji and Yin Yang. It is the hidden force (the creative energy) which is able to lead Wuji into the division of Yin Yang and also lead the divided Yin Yang back into the unity of Wuji. When it moves it divides, when it rests it reunites.
The Wuji Stance
Once again complexity underlies apparent simplicity. The Wuji stance might look simple but it can take months to fully grasp and a lifetime to perfect. There are many layers of understanding working together to create the totality of the pose including body position, breath, mental focus and visualization. Ultimately the goal of Wuji is to transcend thinking about the stance and to simply exist within the stance.
The Wuji Body Position
Feet and Knees
• Feet shoulder width apart
• Flat on the ground (50/50 weight distribution)
• Toes lined up and parallel with each other, pointing straight ahead
• Knees slightly bent – The bending of the knees is NOT happening because you are actually bending your knees. Your bending knees is a side effect of the Kua (the hip ‘bucket’) lowering and being drawn toward the earth.
Hips
• Tailbone ‘tucked in’
• Imagine the Kua is filling with a heavy substance and gently lowering down
• Imagine a rope attached to the tailbone and running deep into the center of the earth. This allows the hips to pull down and causes the knees to bend slightly.
Shoulders and Chest
• Shoulders are completely relaxed as if someone was gently resting their hands upon them.
• Chest is slightly ‘hollow’ (not thrust out), back is slightly rounded.
• Even more than a rounded back we want to imaging the weight of the chest is moving down toward the hips. If you were to place your finger right in the ‘soft spot’ at your clavical bone and gently push down this is the way your chest should be lowering into the Kua.
Arms and Hands
• Arms are completely relaxed and held at the sides of the body. Imagine holding a tennis ball or your fist under your armpits, thus allowing the arms to gently bow out (and giving ‘space’ under the armpit).
• Hands are relaxed and should resemble ‘Chinese roof tiles’, slightly cupped.
Head, Face and Spine
• Imagine a golden ‘thread’ attached to the top of the head and pulling up into the sky. This upward motion causes the chin to be drawn toward the chest.
• As the head remains in a constant state of being ‘drawn up’ toward the heavens the spine is elongated and straight.
• The tip of the tongue is lightly pressed to the roof of the mouth (just behind the teeth).
• Eyes and gaze – Eyes can be open or shut. If open find a spot a few feet ahead of you and look through it with an unfocused gaze.
• One should be gently smiling – as opposed to a frown or toothy grin.
Bones Up Flesh Down!
We now come to one of the most important topics within Wuji. Our skeleton should become light and ‘lifted up’. We might imagine the heavenly thread (spoken of above) as being attached to the actual skull and it is holding the entire skeletal structure in place. While the bones are lifted up in this manner, conversely we should imagine the skin, blood, fascia, connective tissue, internal organs and muscles heavy and pulling down against the bones. If you could visualize a coat hanger made of bone, it might represent our skeleton. Now imagine if everything else, all our ‘squishy stuff’ (to use my teacher’s phrase) is represented as a large, wet and heavy jacket. So the heavy jacket hangs off that bone coat hanger and is constantly pulling down and against it. While on the outside we might look very tranquil, almost restful in Wuji, however internally there’s a whole lot of stretching going on! It should actually be hard work to correctly hold Wuji. But with time you will find it possesses an amazing sense of peace, tranquility and yes a certain kind of relaxation.
What is the meaning of this saying? Why are the bones up and the flesh down? Our intention is to produce within us something strangely known as the ‘Taiji Creature’. This Creature is a body, that is both externally and internally ideally suited to facilitate the movement of Qi. Let’s say that one day you decided to become a ballet dancer - the body you would be seeking would be considerably different than if you wanted to become a weight lifter, would it not? Each practice requires the correct and specific type of body in order to fully express that art. It is the same with Taiji, Qigong and Neigong, there is a very, specific ‘type’ of body that we are seeking to develop. This is a huge subject and we can only scratch the surface here but let us at least make a few, key statements: Our aim is to mold our bodies into the Taiji Creature, which will allow for the greatest flow of internal energy (Qi). Qi is most efficiently conducted not thru bone, or muscle but through fascia / connective tissue. When we stand in Wuji, raising the bones and sinking the flesh, we are stretching the connective tissue and creating ‘space’ within the body. This process of internal stretching pulls the fascia and begins to ‘dig the riverbeds’ essential to the Qi meridians (channels of energy). Like any river, a river of Qi needs a physical riverbed / channel to flow through. The deeper and more stable the riverbed, the easier the flow of Qi. So at its’ most basic level, Wuji helps our bodies create a system of highly efficient riverbeds / channels which will allow for the flow of Qi.
The Pearl Necklace:
A powerful analogy of this posture is holding a pearl necklace by a single pearl. If you were to take a pearl necklace by a single pearl you would see that all other pearls are hanging from that pearl. In like manner allow your head to represent that single pearl and the rest of your body to be the rest of the necklace all hanging from that single point.
Beyond the Pearl Necklace:
While the pearl necklace analogy is helpful we are still not there. We must imagine the body hanging from the head but we must also visualize the hips hanging from the diaphram / chest. In this way our hip / pelvic ‘bucket’ is actually pulling down and away from the upper chest. As this happens it is actually tightening the waist area.
The Wuji Breath
• Focus upon the Lower Dan Tian. As you inhale the belly should expand, as you exhale the belly should contract.
• Breathe in thru the nose and out through the mouth. (This may be altered with practice)
• Your breaths should be quiet, calm and not forced – use no more that 70 % or your inhale / exhale capacity per breath.
The Wuji Visualization (standing meditation)
There are a number of visualizations that can be done while standing in the Wuji posture, here are just a few to experiment with.
1. The Golden Balloon – Visualize your Lower Dan Tien (three fingers widths below the navel and two widths inside the body). As you inhale imagine a beautiful, golden balloon expanding and filling with healing light, as you exhale imagine the balloon contracting.
2. The Cosmic Tree – Each time you exhale visualize roots growing out of the soles of your feet. With every breath those roots branch out more and grow deeper and deeper into the earth. This is an excellent practice for establishing concentration and focus or when you desire to feel more connected, grounded and centered.
3. The Microcosmic Orbit – Focus your attention upon the tip of your nose. As you inhale visualize the breath moving from your nose all the way down the front of the body and resting on the tip of your tailbone. As you exhale visualize the breath moving from your tailbone all the way up the back of the body and resting upon the tip of your nose. Repeat.
Further Remarks
• While in Wuji, each time you exhale, notice how the body relaxes and sinks down. Notice how the shoulders, hips and knees want to sink deeper into the pose. Yet as the body relaxes and draws ever downward, becoming more centered and grounded, the top of the head is continuously being pulled upward, lengthening and straightening out the spine.
• The more you practice the easier and longer you will be able to hold Wuji. To start, only keep the pose for a few minutes at a time and gradually build up from there. Set aside a few minutes each day (twice a day) to practice Wuji. As you progress you will notice that the body will naturally ‘desire’ to move into the Wuji stance (even when you are not consciously aware of doing so). You may be standing in line at the bank or waiting for a coffee and suddenly find yourself naturally settling into Wuji.
• When standing in Wuji (especially at the early stages of your practice) you may experience a light shaking or discomfort somewhere within the body. At other times your mind may be flooded by invasive, racing thoughts. This is perfectly natural and normal and an integral part of your Qigong training. The physical discomfort indicates places in the body where Chi has become ‘snagged’ and needs to be released. The intrusive thoughts indicate the rising awareness of the relationship between the thinking / conscious mind and the meditative /still mind. For many of us, up to this point, the mind has been in complete control, unchecked and unrestrained. The constant chatter going on within our heads was an unquestioned part of our everyday lives. By doing Wuji (standing meditation) we begin to become aware of the thinking mind and notice how it tries to push against the Wuji state of stillness, peace and non-thinking. To help alleviate these symptoms do the following: as you exhale see if you can gently guide the tingling / discomfort or intrusive thoughts down thru the body, through your feet and right out into the ground.
But there’s more! Now that you understand the basic Wu-Chi posture we can begin to add layer upon layer to that skeleton. These layers include such things as:
The river of thoughts
The circle beyond Time and Space
The 1,000 pound man or corpse stance
The Inner Cosmic Smile
Unleashing the Thrusting Vessel
The double pointed sun meditation
Want to learn more? Contact me and we’ll dive into it!