Functional Polarity of the Autonomic Nervous System

Every aspect of life is maintained from the opposite forces, yin and yang, or polarity. Functional polarity of the autonomic nervous system is the oscillation between sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of autonomic nervous system.

Modern life imposes continuous stress and prolonged sympathetic branch excitation on people, by depleting the body’s energetic reserves, while suppressing the parasympathetic nervous system and its restorative functions. This breaks the balance.

Standing mediation (Zhan Zhuang) promotes the balance of the two branches of the autonomic nervous system. The practice of Zhan Zhuang simultaneously inhibits the chronically activated sympathetic nervous system and stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system.

This simple standing exercise fulfills one hundred criteria for enabling the regenerative functions of the body. First the posture is such a one that relieves all physical neural pathways. Keeping the upright spine and tucking a little bit the chin downwards relieves the vagus nerve from atlas-axis joint compression. Second the tendons' legs are stretched (if the posture is maintained correctly) in such a way that they produce bio-electricity due to the piezoelectric property of these connective tissues (explained in the ebook). 

Third, the mobilizing muscles should be relaxed and the posture will be kept with the stabilizing ones. The mobilizing muscles are sympathetic nervous-oriented. For instance, in the beginning you will keep your shoulders shrunken which is a sympathetic-oriented position (fear-driven position). By bringing your awareness to your shoulder you should drop and relax them. Further at first your legs will tremble a lot because you are using mobilizers more than stabilizers. 

Persistent practice will shift your nervous system from sympathetic to parasympathetic one.

GrandMaster Sam Tam

Making the Involuntary Voluntary

It is theorized that anxiety disorder is the result of flight-or-flight responses triggered without the presence of any danger. While in martial arts combats the flight-or-flight and freezing reflexes are considered a vulnerability that can be exploited by the opponent. Thus, a secret method have been discovered to control the involuntary flight-or-flight and freezing reflexes. The standing and moving meditation (Zhan Zhuang) is exactly the training fundamental exercise from internal martial arts used to control and deactivate these involuntary flight-or-flight and freezing reflexes and make them voluntarily. 

More specifically, training in internal martial arts has two objectives: 1) to eliminate all involuntary reflexes, hard-wired by evolution, through superior awareness, and to learn to induce these reflexes in the opponents. 

In essence, the internal martial arts cultivate awareness and control over reflexes and promote relaxation and integration at a fundamental level.

The standing meditation and the flight-or-flight and freezing responses (anxiety disorder) have deep commonalities in structure and function. They both activates the energies of the body. The difference is that the anxiety disorder activates the energies through sympathetic nervous stimulation and standing mediation, on the contrary, through parasympathetic nervous promotion. 

In simply word, standing meditation transforms you from a prey to a predator.

Flight-Fight Reflexes

There are the flight (yin) and fight (yang) reflexes. Each of these is itself a cascade of neural autonomic responses that prepares the body to deal with the highest threat level – one that risks the continued survival of the organism. Moreover, purely reflexive flight-fight instincts are heavily overlaid and supplemented by learned behaviors, or fixed action patterns, allowing for great variations in their expression in individuals. In the context of these yin-yang crisis reflexes, “making the involuntary voluntary” means nothing less for the internal martial artist than seeking to eliminate this entire range of involuntary crisis behaviors. Standing meditation (Zhan Zhuang) cultivates awareness which transforms these polarities into the offensive and defensive skills that define the internal martial arts.

These reflexes are hard-wired by evolution in the human brain and central nervous system. But, when we are startled (reflex) or when we tense, when we are provoked to fight-or-flight alert, these reflexes limit our response to challenges and create vulnerabilities that can be exploited by an opponent in martial arts combats. The stillness meditations (Zhan Zhuang) of the internal martial arts are designed to de-activate these involuntary responses and make them voluntary. 

Reverse Breathing

Reverse breathing is a kind of forced expiration in which the abdominal wall is pulled in, or deflated, during the inhalation and is actively pushed out, or inflated, to expand in the exhalation. It is called the practice “reverse breathing” because during the inhalation the abdomen is pulled in (as opposed to pushing out in natural breathing) and during the exhalation it is pushed out to power movement and effort (as opposed to pulling in on the exhale in natural breathing). 

Doing this reverse breathing during the Zhan Zhuang practice will relieve the pressure that the hiatus can place on the vagus nerve. When you inhale the chest will be expanded and the stomach will go up and diaphragm down. Then in exhalation the diaphragm will go up and and the stomach down by pushing your abs. This opposite direction movements will massage and relieve the vagus nerve.  

Ending Procedure After Zhan Zhuang Practice

Cover the navel with both hands while you are in the Zhan Zhuang position. Men should put their left hands over their right hands and women should put their right hands over their left hands, palms facing and touching the navel (two inches below the navel). As you have covered your navel with both hands now imagine that some lights travels from your top of your head and goes through your arms and finally enter your navel. Keep this virtualization for some time. This will connect the two polarities brain (yang) and navel (yin).
Then imagine that you are going to sit down on a high stool by shifting your attention to your legs. Or you can use a real high stool to sit down a little bit and feeling your legs being filled with chi.

Dizziness and Vertigo in Anxiety Disorder

The malfunction of the Atlas/Axis joint will cause dizziness and vertigo. In anxiety disorder suboccipital muscles may become stiff and will  cause the misalignment of Atlas/Axis joint. This is well explained in this book by Merryn Fergusson. Zhan Zhuang persistent practice will heal this in the long run.