Qigong is a practice of aligning breath, movement, and awareness for exercise, healing, and meditation. With roots in Chinese medicine, martial arts, and philosophy, qigong is traditionally viewed as a practice to cultivate and balance Qi.
The class at Hemma is suitable for all, but would be of particular interest to those who feel themselves to have low energy, leading to depression, anxiety and stress. Qi gong is a gentle, yet powerful way to reconnect to your life force and works as a wonderful adjunct to acupuncture.
The 60-minute class is broken down into 3 parts. It is taught by Stephen Potter, one of our Registered Acupuncturists, and is offered every Thursday 12:30-1:30pm.
The first part is the ‘Eight Silken Brocade’. This is a dynamic set of exercises to open up the body, circulating Qi around all the meridians and cleansing the vital organs.
The second part is self-healing techniques based around Steve’s knowledge as an Acupuncturist. You will learn how to locate and massage some major acu-points, understand terms such as yin/yang, zang fu and Qi, and how to practice the Taoist inner smile and healing sounds, working on the vital organs, bringing health and balance to the practitioner.
The third part is the actual practice of the Qi Gong form called ‘standing pole Qi gong’ or ‘stands like a tree’. This is a gentle inner meditation performed standing or sitting, depending on the physical needs of the student. This inner practice consists of connecting to the light of the healing Tao, creating a spacious non dual awareness of Qi as the life force, and eventually moving this Qi around the body around the ‘micro cosmic orbit’ to heal and balance the body/mind/spirit.
Each week the practice builds upon the foundations that can be learnt quite easily, whilst deepening the philosophical understanding and connection to Qi, making this suitable for beginners to drop into, and for experienced practitioners to develop their practice.
Stephen Potter is a registered acupuncturist since 2008 with a busy community acupuncture practice at both Hemma and Stillpoint Community clinic in Langford, he has practiced Qi gong for over 10 years and has completed several Buddhist and Taoist retreats.