I’ve finally achieved my target of holding the ’embrace the tree’ stance for 20 minutes and it feels great. It’s taken 20 weeks but I did it. Even my knees haven’t protested too much which is a blessing.
I was concerned at the start that my knees would react in a negative way as they have done in the past when I tried to practice mid to low stances. I stopped doing those stances a long time ago to avoid the pain and damage to my knees (left knee weakened due to a previous injury). Please note that low and medium stances are beneficial and a very good workout if your knees can handle them. My knees can’t.
So I decided the higher stance of ’embrace the tree’ was the safest way to go and scheduled three sessions per week, one day rest between each session. The first week I started with one minute per standing session and added an extra minute each week until I got to 20 minutes. In between the stance work I kept up with my other training which averages out to 1.5 hours per week day and one hour on a Saturday.
When I finally listened to my knees, and that was after several earlier attempts of pushing myself through the pain barrier, I discovered a better way of training that suited my circumstances.
And the better way and an alternative way to low and medium stances, for me, is the ’embrace the tree’ stance.
I intend to keep at the 20 minute level, three times a week, until the end of the year and see how my knees react and then try and gradually build up to six days of stance work a week.
I may increase the duration to 30 minutes per session but I will have to consult my knees as they have the final say in this matter.
And if they tell me 20 minutes, 3 times a week, is all I can do then I will still be very happy with that. Afterall, 20 minutes of ’embrace the tree’ stance is better than zero minutes.
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