UPDATE: Weeknight Sessions Open to All

With the first half of Immersion Week completed, this is a special announcement to share the subjects of the 3 weeknight sessions, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (April 19-21). Each evening can be taken as a stand-alone topic or grouped together, even if you did not attend the weekend. The fee for each evening session (6:30-9:30) is $65 or $180 for all 3 nights. While prior knowledge of Heaven and Earth is helpful, you will be able to practice all of the material in an easy-to-learn form like Circling Hands. REGISTER FOR ALL 3 NIGHTS

Monday: Pulsing of Joints and Cavities -- "pulsing" is a central technique to Tai Chi and Chi Gung. While it is desirable to learn this technique in Heaven and Earth, the foundation to a strong "pulsing" practice is built through partner work -- where you literally learn to increase the space inside and springiness of your joints. We will spend equal time doing partner pulsing work and integrating it into solo movement practice this evening. REGISTER FOR MONDAY

Tuesday: Yin and Yang Lengthening -- learning to stretch the soft tissue of the body can dramatically increase your sense of energy movement. You learn to lengthen the fascia, which feels different from typical muscle stretching, and move it under conscious control, along different surfaces of the body, to induce energetic flows up, down, in and out. REGISTER FOR TUESDAY

Wednesday: Chi Work -- the Marriage of Heaven and Earth can also be used to absorb and project energy from your body, through your energy field and in the environment around you. Using techniques similar to Dragon and Tiger Chi Gung, we will explore subtle energy movement that enhances the physical mechanics we have learned throughout the week. REGISTER FOR WEDNESDAY

Other Important Info

The school will be open for partner practice from 1-4pm on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. Senior Instructors and other assistants will be on hand to supervise practice sessions.

By popular request, Senior Instructor Craig Barnes will be teaching a one-hour Inner Dissolving Meditation class on Wednesday evening, from 5-6pm. REGISTER HERE

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"The most popular chi gung program I teach,” Eric Peters (senior Energy Arts instructor) calls Marriage of Heaven & Earth, the focus of this spring’s immersion week, April 17–21.

Craig Barnes co-teaches. Practitioners of both Western and Eastern traditions agree that all internal systems of the body pulsate—open and close—in a natural rhythm. The core techniques of H&E—joint pulsing, spinal bowing, and tissue lengthening— strengthen natural circulation. In China, they are used to heal joint and spine problems.

“One simple way to measure health,” says BTC director Dan Kleiman, “is to see if the internal rhythms of your body are smooth, even, and strong, or erratic and weak.” Immersion week classes will offer levels for newcomers and those with prior experience. Weekend workshops will teach beginners the basic movements as well as the Circling Hands exercise. More experienced students will refine the movements and explore more difficult pulsings.

On week nights, the entire group will learn techniques that dramatically increase the ability to move energy through your body, including wrapping, yin and yang meridian lengthening, and cavity pulsing. The rhythmic, continuous pumping of H&E helps you develop the relaxed, springy quality of movement that makes tai chi and ba gua look effortless and alive. It improves circulation of fluids in your joints, releases physical, mental, and emotional blockages in your body, and deeply relaxes tension.

Instructors will also be available on weekday afternoons for free individual feedback or for private lessons, including Energy Arts instructor recertification. To sign up for a time, please contact BTC director Dan Kleiman.

Schedule

APRIL 17–21
Heaven & Earth Chi Gung
Eric Peters and Craig Barnes, Energy Arts Senior Instructors
Sat. 2–6pm
Sun. 10am–1pm and 3–5pm
Mon.–Wed. 6:30–9:30pm

Optional: Mon.–Wed., 1–4pm (Additional pulsing practice sessions, private lessons with senior instructors, and recertification for Energy Arts instructors)

Register for the Whole Event, $340
Register for the Weekend Only, $180