Embracing Trees
The legendary Iron Shirt Chi Kung practices are divided into three levels in the Healing Tao system. Iron Shirt consists of standing practices (such as Embracing the Tree) that are more advanced than the sitting practices, but less advanced than the walking practices of Tai Chi Chi Kung. Iron Shirt Chi Kung 1 consists of exercises based around abdominal breathing, strengthening the fascia to protect the organs, rooting the feet into the earth, strengthening and aligning the spine and psoas muscle, and bringing the earth energy into the body to be stored in the organs safely.
-The Alchemist’s Tao Te Ching, by Andrew McCart