I Ching Meditation: Five Practices Using the Trigrams and Hexagrams

Most people meet the I Ching as a book: you cast, you read, you interpret. But for centuries it has also been used as a meditation system — a set of symbols you hold in the mind rather than read on a page. The eight trigrams and the 64 hexagrams are, among other things, a complete map of states of attention, and they can be used to train concentration, self-observation, and equanimity. This guide sets out five concrete practices.

Why the I Ching Can Be Meditated On

A good meditation object has three properties: it is simple enough to hold, rich enough to keep returning to, and structured enough that you notice when attention drifts. The eight trigrams satisfy all three unusually well. Each trigram is:

Each row is a single object of attention with a visual form, a felt quality, a spatial direction, and a natural image. That density is what makes the system usable as a contemplative discipline rather than a curiosity. The anatomy of the trigrams and how they combine into hexagrams is set out in The Structure of the I Ching.

Practice 1: Trigram Breathing

The most accessible practice, and a good starting point. Choose one trigram for the session.

1. Sit comfortably and let the breath settle into its natural rhythm for a minute.
2. Hold the trigram’s image in your mind’s eye — for Kan (Water), the image of deep water moving in a channel; for Gen (Mountain), a still mass of rock.
3. Link the breath to the quality. On the inhale, take in the trigram’s quality; on the exhale, let it settle. For Xun (Wind), inhale as penetration and persistence; exhale as gentleness. For Zhen (Thunder), inhale as arousal; exhale as release.
4. Return when you drift. The returning is the practice — not the staying.
5. Close by noting one word for how the quality actually felt in the body.

Ten minutes with a single trigram is plenty. Practitioners commonly work through the eight in sequence over eight days, or choose the trigram opposite to their current disturbance — Kan or Gen when agitated, Zhen when sluggish, Dui when contracted.

Practice 2: Hexagram Contemplation

Here you hold a whole six-line figure as an object. Pick a hexagram — often the one you received in a recent reading, or a classic such as Tai (Peace) or Pi (Standstill).

1. Visualise the six lines from bottom to top, solid and broken, in order. Build them slowly, one at a time.
2. Hold the figure steady for a few breaths — the whole shape, not the individual lines.
3. Then walk the lines upward: line 1, line 2, … to line 6, and back down. Each line gets one breath.
4. Read the hexagram’s Image once, at the end, and let it close the session. For Tai, the Image is heaven and earth uniting — hold that as a single impression, not a thought.

This practice is a surprisingly effective concentration exercise. Holding a six-part visual structure without verbalising it is demanding, and the failures are informative: which line do you keep forgetting? Which one do you want to rush past? That pattern often mirrors something about the situation the hexagram describes.

Practice 3: The Six-Line Body Scan

A traditional-influenced practice that maps the six lines of a hexagram onto the body, from the ground up. It doubles as a grounding exercise.

Move attention up the six regions slowly, one breath each, holding the question lightly rather than answering it. This practice pairs naturally with the classical idea that the lines of a hexagram describe a progression from the ground of a situation to its highest expression — a theme developed throughout I Ching Interpretation: Understanding Lines and Judgments.

Practice 4: The Still Point

In any hexagram, the two central lines (3 and 4) sit at the hinge between the lower and upper trigrams. Traditional commentators treat the middle place of a trigram as its “correct” position. The Still Point practice uses this idea directly:

1. Choose a hexagram you are working with, or simply hold the image of Gen (Mountain, ☶) — the trigram whose whole quality is keeping still.
2. Rest attention in the centre — the midpoint between inhale and exhale, the midpoint between the lower and upper half of the figure.
3. Do not hold an object. Rest in the between.
4. When a thought arises, note it and return to the centre without commentary.

This is the most advanced of the five and most closely resembles classical sitting meditation. The trigram Meng’s mountain-over-water image is a useful alternative anchor: mountain above, spring below, and you resting in the space where the spring meets the rock.

Practice 5: Walking the Eight Trigrams

A movement practice, useful if sitting is difficult. You walk a circle, pausing at each of the eight directions associated with a trigram, holding that trigram’s quality for one slow breath or one full round of steps.

1. Mark eight points roughly at the compass directions of the Later Heaven arrangement: South (Li), Southwest (Kun), West (Dui), Northwest (Qian), North (Kan), Northeast (Gen), East (Zhen), Southeast (Xun).
2. Walk slowly. At each point, stop and hold the quality: at Kan, water and depth; at Li, fire and clarity; at Gen, stillness.
3. Complete one or two full circuits. Roughly ten minutes.

If you have no space to walk a circle, a short straight line walked back and forth works: four trigrams one way, four the other.

How This Connects to the Reading Practice

Meditation with the symbols is not a separate hobby from reading the book — it is foundational. The reason is straightforward: reading the I Ching well requires you to hold a symbolic structure steadily in mind while resisting the urge to decide prematurely what it means. That is precisely the capacity the meditative practices train. Practitioners who meditate on the trigrams tend to report that their readings become clearer and less reactive, because they are no longer grabbing at the first convenient interpretation.

If you want a structured path that combines study and practice, the sequence in A 30-Day I Ching Study Plan can be run alongside any of the five practices above.

Common Mistakes

• Holding too many symbols at once. One trigram or one hexagram per session. The system is dense; a single object is plenty.
• Trying to be empty. The I Ching’s practices are concentration practices with an object, not emptiness practices. Holding the image is the method.
• Chasing results. If you sit expecting insight into a specific problem, you will spend the session thinking about the problem. Let the practice be the practice.
• Verbalising the whole time. Reading the commentary during a session is a different activity. Sit first, read afterwards.
• Skipping the closing note. One word or one sentence at the end turns a pleasant pause into a record you can learn from.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does I Ching meditation require any religious belief?

No. The trigrams can be used purely as structured attention anchors — visual forms with associated qualities. Practitioners from Daoist, Confucian, Buddhist, and entirely secular backgrounds use them. Nothing in the practice requires you to accept any metaphysical claim.

How long should a session be?

Ten minutes is a good standard, and consistency matters more than length. If you have more time, a twenty-minute session with a longer settling period at the beginning and a short journal note at the end is the natural extension.

Which trigram should I start with?

Gen (Mountain, ☶) is the classic starting point for stillness, and Kan (Water, ☵) for emotional steadiness. If you are agitated, use Kan or Gen. If you are sluggish, Zhen (Thunder). If contracted or heavy, Dui (Lake).

Can I meditate on a hexagram I received in a reading?

Yes, and it is one of the most useful things to do with a reading. Sit with the hexagram before deciding what it means. Many practitioners find that the interpretation that eventually proves correct arrives during the sitting rather than during the initial reading.

Is this related to Daoist internal alchemy?

There are historical connections. Daoist contemplative traditions used trigram and hexagram symbolism extensively, including in internal alchemy (neidan), where the symbols map onto stages of a subtle process. The practices here are the accessible, secular-facing versions; they do not require or claim to be a transmission of those esoteric systems.

What if I cannot visualise the lines?

Use a physical object: draw the trigram on a card and rest your gaze on it, or place six coins in front of you to form the hexagram. Visualisation is a skill and it develops. Holding a physical representation is entirely in keeping with tradition.

Continue with Yin and Yang in the I Ching: Core Philosophy Explained to understand the two line types you are holding, or Daily I Ching Reading to pair practice with consultation.