Spotlight on QiGong/Chi Gung
The following is a list of classes offered in the past at the Institute that relate to various aspects of QiGong/Chi Gung. The particular electives offered by the Institute vary at any given time. The school tries to be responsive to the particular interests of the current student body and aims to have the curriculum reflect those interests. The number of current classes that fall under the category of QiGong/Chi Gung depends on both teacher availability and student interest. Information on current classes can be found in the academic catalog.
Faces of the Soul: Chi Gung and your Totem Mask
The focus of this course is on whole body awareness, self exploration, and creative expression through Chi Gung, guided imagery, journal writing, and mask making. Students will learn techniques of accessing, moving, and sharing energy, and apply them to the process of making a plaster gauze mold of a partner's face, as well as using mixed media art and writing techniques to render creative expressions of the terrain of the inner being and masks/totems from their own facial molds.
Spiritual Meditation: Tai Chi and Chi Gung
The focus of this course will be to examine the historical, cultural and philosophic background of Chi Gung, of which Tai Chi Chuan is a subset. Contrary to narrow contemporary usage, "Chi Gung" refers to any disciplined activity that strengthens and balances that "vital life energy" in the body known as "Ch'i." According to classical Chinese tradition (particularly the tradition of Taoism), there are four categories of Chi Gung: sitting, standing, lying down, and moving. Tai Chi Chuan is but one of four "internal systems" that center on movement (in addition to Bak Gua, Hsing-Yi, and Tung Bei).
Chi Gung practice involves meditation, visualization, breath control, stretching, and movement. In addition to martial arts applications, Chi Gung regimens have a range of profound health benefits—including development and enhancement of flexibility, balance, concentration, strength, inner calm, and deep healing. Participants will be instructed in select types of Chi Gung, most especially of the sitting, standing, and lying varieties. Out of respect for traditional protocol and custom, Tai Chi Chuan will be demonstrated but not taught by the instructor. If time allows, we will also consider a fifth genre of Chi Gung, "Feng Shui," which involves managing the Chi of the environment.
Tibetan Buddhist Qigong
With over five thousand years of history, Qigong is one of the oldest and most tested of medical practices. The documented benefits of emitted chi included reversal of disorders affecting all major systems of the body. The Tibetan Buddhist Qigong system focuses on quieting the body, speech, and mind, dissolving the barriers of relative perception. Through simple resonance of movement, sound, and intention, every person has the ability to access healing energy to develop health and reach full potential.
Master Zi Sheng Wang, preeminent Qigong healer, transcends the boundaries between ancient energetic disciplines and modern medical science. As a young man he found his primary teacher, the highly respected Nyingma Buddhist Rinpoche, Khenpo Munsel, in the isolated mountain regions of Tibet, and for over 40 years undertook yearly sojourns to study with him. At his teacher's direction, Master Wang came to the United States to bring the essential legacy of Tibetan Buddhist Qigong to the West.
