Life has challenges and sometimes there are emergencies.

The way you respond (or react) to your unique combination of challenges and emergencies profoundly influences the subtler energetic systems of your body. We have all evolved to fight, flight, freeze, feign, fawn, and a thousand other ways to adapt to life. Humanity has all also evolved sitting and waiting and reflecting a lot more than we do today, as well as going to regular tribal ceremonies or family gatherings, dancing, laughing and occasionally, when needed, crying.

Or, perhaps your ancestors had a way of moving and breathing that allowed you to calm your Spirit (down-regulate), so that you can self regulate, heal, and grow – eventually becoming a source of wisdom for your people.

Today, we have so much more information proving what happens to your brain, your nervous system, your adaptability, and your social sense of connection when there are emergencies and when you are in a flow state and completely calm, present, curious and playful.

Qi Gong practice is profoundly effective at shifting people from a state of distress to a state of mild euphoria.

We will begin our practise by learning some Qi Gong to release Panic Attacks and heal the Four Wounds of Trauma. Then we will tangibly explore Qi gong practices that help you down-regulate, learn from your wounds while consciously changing how your brain is wired, learn breathwork and relaxation practices for releasing embodied memories, and begin studying the ancient Shamanic Qi Gong form called the Tai Li Fa – The Great Regulation.

Sat May 28 – Live Talk and demonstration – Coming Down from Shock

June 1 – Self Regulation and Down-Regulation Qi Gong skills

June 8 – Qi Wounds, Neuroplasticity, and Your Spine – Seated Qi Gong

June 22 – Progressive Relaxation and Trauma Release Qi Gong

June 29 – Regulating the Body, Mind, and Breath – The Traditional Tai Li Fa Form

Zheng Qi – A state of resolve in the face of illness, injury, and distress. Zheng Qi is also expressed when your body is fighting an infection or healing on any level.

Zhen Qi – A state of authenticity and being with hard truths. Zhen Qi is also expressed as we let go of old patterns and allow ourselves to continue learning about who we really are.

Zong Qi – A connection with the gifts and challenges that you receive from all of your Ancestors. Zong Qi exists in your chest and is a combination of your daily vitality and your innate potential.

Ling Qi – A connection with the ‘Wind of the Sky’, the Mystery expressing itself, and the healing potential of all life. Ling Qi exists in the space between all phenomena and whatever brings all phenomena into Being.

You will learn more about these and many other aspects of Qi and how to guide those functions with specific forms of Therapeutic Qi Gong.

Healing with Qi Gong can happen in many ways.

Working with subtle energies and qualities of aliveness needs to be tangible and needs to connect to the influences around you and moving through you. This can be learned by imitating certain aspects of the Seasons (Yin and Yang) and the natural world (Five elements), by playing with all of the energies moving through all life (De Qi), and by learning some essential healing skills.

Anytime you are cultivating a lot of Qi it is important to open your meridians, breathe completely and efficiently, and keep your muscles and fascia toned and elastic. In this unit, you will learn the foundations of the Yi Jin Jing  – Connective Tissue Transformation Qi Gong.

Sat – July 9 – Live Talk and Demonstration – The Healing Power of  Qi

July 13 – Four Seasons and Five Elements Qi Gong – Qi interaction and awareness

July 27 – De Qi – Making a Qi Connection

Aug 10 – Dao Yin Self Massage and Acupressure

Aug 24  – Meridian Brushing and Dan Tian Clearing

Sept 7 – Deep Healing Flow – Floorwork – Five Spines, Breathwork, Pandiculation

When life feels stagnant and stubborn, or collapsed and exhausted,  or if you are really ‘on the edge’, you naturally need to shift state.

We are all descendants of cultures that had practices to help us break out of intense states, down-regulate our nervous system, and shift our state of being – whenever we needed to. If you cannot change your state of being with conscious practice, you will naturally seek out states of unconsciousness. It is thought that much of today’s mental health, trauma, and addiction crisis would be profoundly relieved by reintroducing these kinds of ‘Sate Shift’ practices.

If you are feeling really ‘stuck’, you may have to break state first. In the first two units, you learned the best ways to state-break – to come down from shock or other trauma states.

This unit of the course goes deeper into self-regulation and co-regulation with the Universe (Yin and Yang), the natural world (Five Elements), as well as resetting how you move every joint in your body. Sometimes the best choice is to connect with bigger energetic systems and opportunities, and sometimes the best choice is to come home to your body and inner somatic experience.

Therapeutic movement, increasing mobility,  relieving chronic pain, improving blood and qi circulation, putting in the time and effort, and focusing on embodied healing can often make the biggest difference in your life.

If you need Healing, what intuitively calls you the most on that list of specific skills and experiences?

Sat Sept 17 – Live Talk and Demonstration – State Shift is your innate Human birthright

Sept 21 – Fall Equinox – Shamanic Qi Gong – Balancing Heaven and Earth

Oct 12 – Physical Rehabilitation and Qi Gong 

Oct 26 – Proprioception, Neuroception, Mirror Neurons and Qi Gong

Nov 9 – Five Element Qi Gong

Shapeshifting can be understood literally, as a human turning into a werewolf, or it can be understood as a natural aspect of playfully expanding and expressing one’s consciousness or Spirit (Shen).

How one sees themselves, is often how a person’s healing or illness progresses. There are many stories of people using their imagination, visualization, and self-expression to heal broken bones, release traumatic memories, and even resolve complex conditions like cancer. Any wholehearted and whole-body expression of Life, human, bear, or tortoise implies a coherent and complete Mind/Body manifestation of Qi.

Playing and frolicking like an animal, or any number of animals, is your birthright, it is profoundly healing, and also a lot of fun!

Sat Nov 12 – Shapeshifting and The Five Animal Frolics forms

Nov 16 – Blue (Iridescent) Panther

Now 23 – Black Bear

Dec 7 – Red Phoenix and White Ape

Dec 14 – Golden Tortoise

Dec 21 – Winter Solstice – Standing Meditation and Healing

This practice, called Nei Yang Gong, focuses on assessing (De Qi) each organ system, connecting with your Three Dan Tian, creating coherent intention (Yi Nian), connecting with the appropriate aspects of Nature (Earth/Sky/Seasons), all while making room for Ling Qi to move through Life in the way that is most needed.

This unit begins with learning an ancient Shamanic Hands-on Healing process. Then this process can be applied to any part of your (or another’s) body, or any of your internal organs. This practice is also often used to improve fertility or longevity.

Sat Jan 7, 2023 – Healing your Internal Organs with Qi Gong (Nei Zang C’an Fa)

Jan 18 –  Nourishing Your Kidneys

Jan 25 – Nourishing Your Liver

Feb 8 – Nourishing Your Lungs and Spleen/Pancreas

Feb 15 – Nourishing Your Heart

Qi Gong has gathered many distinct forms of Breathwork over the last few thousand years. Some from Mountain Shamans, some from Ascetic Hermits, some from Traditional Chinese medicine, and some from Daoist and Shaolin (Buddhist) monasteries. These practices are a treasure chest of Healing opportunities.

The Six Healing Sounds, another ancient form of Healing Qi Gong, focuses on combining whole-body gestures with vocal tones and word-like sounds. This traditional form can be done in a basic stretch and yawning style, or a more intentional meridian opening and spiritual chanting style. One version of this form even explores singing with specific, coherent, and sincere emotional qualities.

And finally, this unit explores the foundations of Nei Gong – Daoist Inner Cultivation. With some advanced Breathwork and all of the skills you have learned so far, you can now explore one of the most powerful healing practices in the world. Nei Gong is especially powerful for those suffering from chronic distress, mental and emotional disharmonies, chronic illness, and complex trauma.

Nei Gong also involves a deeper exploration of your Three (and Six) Dan Tian and some subtle parts of the Mind.

Sat Feb 18, 2023 – Six Healing Sounds and Breathwork

Feb 22– Six Healing Sounds

March 1 –Review of all forms and Integration

March 8 – Hun Yuan Seated Nei Gong

Ancient Daoist wisdom teaches that the path to Spiritual Healing begins by bringing the unconscious into consciousness. 

Healing Ancestral wounds can be taken literally, as a way of correcting a past wrong, or it can be taken contextually, guiding you into an inner journey of self-discovery and reunion. This form of Nei Gong Healing is a combination of seated meditation, inner contemplation and a conscious form of recapitulation – or experientially reliving and learning a core truth from your most potent past experiences. Even your Ancestral past.

Regular Nei Gong meditation, accepting unconscious patterns, and recapitulating your most challenging memories, can support you in reorienting your sense of self and how to be in the world.

Sat – March 11 – Clearing Ancestral Wounds from your Six Dan Tian (Innate Minds)

March 15 – Nei Gong and Yuan Shen – Inner Cultivation and Original Consciousness

March 22 – Equinox Completion Ceremony

Dates:

Live Introductory Lecture

Saturday, June 1st (9 AM – PST)

Qi Gong Classes Begin

Tuesday, June 4th (6 PM – PST) 

Live Talks and demonstrations on Saturday mornings – 9 AM – PST

Live and Prerecorded Qi Gong classes on Wednesday evenings – 6 PM – PST 

Course Ends March 18, 2025

Recordings of the Live classes are usually available for streaming or download within 24 hours.