Cross-Training Body Mind Emotions Spirit | Rachael R. Resch

Here are some of the benefits that the practice of standing brings. (For more about how to do the practice of standing, please see my post, The Five Stages of Self-Healing:  Standing.)

Remember, what we call “Standing” in The Five Stages of Self-Healing, is, in its classic form, actually squatting, monkey-like.  Along the continuum of developmental movement, we eventually rise from squatting into upright standing as we prepare to walk. 

The most profound offering that the practice of Standing brings is the re-orientation of the spine from horizontal to vertical.  This is a profound change anatomically, physiologically and neurologically, as well as energetically.

Mysteriously, all the previous stages, Embryonic, Creeping and Crawling – each with its own unique sensation – have prepared us for standing.  We begin with the sensation of allness in Embryonic, move through the sensation of being horizontal in Creeping and Crawling, to find ourselves vertical for the first time in standing.

Body:

Physical flexibility of hips, low back, pelvic floor, knees and calves.
Preparation of the body for childbirth.
Integration of the lumbar and cervical curves of the spine. 

Mind:

Mental flexibility.
Being “on top of it.”
Naturally attaining a new point of view. 
Seeing across large vistas. 
Taking a stand.
Knowing where you stand. 

Emotions:

Emotional flexibility.
Standing together.
Standing up for yourself.
Feeling supported from below.
Standing on your own two feet. 
Feeling where you stand.

Spirit:

Presence.
Plugging into the Earth’s rising energy.
Plugging into the Heaven’s descending energy.
Marriage of Heaven and Earth in the body.
Tree of life body. 

And here are some applications of the practice of Standing to Nia’s three movement arts:

Dance Arts:

Free pelvic energy of Jazz Dance. 
Rooted yet ascending like a tree in Duncan Dance.
Arms and hand are free to create shapes in space in Modern Dance.
Base of the body as foundation for vertical alignment.
Balance.

Martial Arts:

Nia’s seven martial arts stances: closed stance, open stance, A stance, riding stance, bow stance and one-legged stance.
Hara connected to the Earth. 
Monkey energy in martial arts forms.

Healing Arts:

Head floats to the Heaven, as in Alexander Technique.
Yoga’s conscious alignment of bones in Tree Pose and other standing postures.
The conscious sensation of stacking head over chest over pelvis over feet in Feldenkrais.