Energy Gates Standing Chi Gung
The Energy Gates three-course series starting up this fall—the first time since fall ‘08—is for students seeking a level of practice that devotes 20-40 minutes of each hour and a half class to standing. This is one of the most important practices you can cultivate as a foundation for more advanced tai chi and chi gung. Since the course is offered cyclically and occasionally, it is a chance for newcomers to develop this primary skill and for veterans to revisit the material at a deeper level. You must start with Part 1 in September.
While standing, students learn to strengthen the inner sense of biomechanical alignments, sink chi, and release places in the body where energy is stuck, including letting go of excess tension that you hold deep in the muscles.
Over the three courses from early fall through winter, we will systematically work through the body from head to toe to help you feel where each energy gate is located— e.g., crown, behind the eyes, inside ears, roof of mouth, jaw, and so forth—and dissolve anything blocked there. For a detailed description of the energy gates model, check Bruce Frantzis’ book Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body.
The course will also include other Energy Gates exercises—cloud hands, spine stretch, and the first and second swings. Expect lots of hands-on corrections and adjustments, with new practice themes introduced gradually. If you have questions whether the course is appropriate for your learning level, please contact instructor Dan Kleiman.