Wandering Cloud Qigong

12/11/2021

Sometimes you just have to ‘give a little whistle and always let your conscience be your guide’.

10/19/2021

Zen story:
A rich man, fond of cats, asked a famous Zen brushstroke artist to draw him a cat. The master agreed and asked him to come back in 3 months. When the man returned, he was put off, again and again until more than a year had passed. Finally, the man insisted that the master draw him a picture right there and then. The master took out a brush, and, with so much grace and ease, in an effortless motion, he drew a picture of a cat - the man had never seen such beauty. But then he grew angry, "That only took you thirty seconds! Why did you make me wait for more than a year?" Without a word, the Zen master opened a cupboard and out fell thousands of drawings - of cats.
MORAL OF THE STORY - Those who make it look easy have worked hard over time. Excellence is all about time and practice

02/23/2021

Dr Lown is no longer with us but his words and teaching will always remain.
He was a great promoter of the patient and often lamented that the world of medicine had lost its soul. The days of listening, of caring, of healing and of a genuine bond between doctor and patient, he once said, are gone. A broken system cannot help broken people and when you de-personalise medicine, the cost to humanity is immense.
Let us all start truly listening - listening from a place of Qi.

This is "The complex art of listening" by Lown Institute on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

02/23/2021

Want to know a secret for building energy?
Here it is: Slow Down. Do Less. Relax.

02/05/2021

10/22/2020

I bow to the 'greats': the poets, the artists, the mystics and the common man. I bow to their wisdom. I bow to the idea that we can go behind the words and embody the feeling. I bow to to Chuang Tzu.

09/23/2020

Yes, we must integrate an element of stillness in everything we do. Try standing still (not frozen, nor tense, nor collapsed) for 20 mins each day and see how profoundly empowering and energising that can be.

HUMMINGBIRD: MOTION IN STILLNESS

Taijiquan speaks of motion in stillness and stillness in motion, but what that truly meant eluded me.

I saw a hummingbird, its wings were a blur. It swooped into my garden, then hovered: motion in stillness and stillness in motion.

And as it was still, it was looking. Stillness made its awareness possible.

05/22/2020

Human Idiocy Has No Limits. The word “idiot” is from the Greek word that means “a private person”, that is someone whose intelligence has deteriorated because they are invested in their own opinions and refuse to listen to those who may be wiser. Unfortunately, in spite of the rational approach of Chinese medicine, there are idiot "masters" in the US who advise against social distancing during the pandemic, claiming that their miraculous qi field or the qi of their school will protect against contagion. This is not hearsay. I have received emails that proclaim it.

By contrast, Chinese doctors have recommended social isolation during epidemics from the first century through modern times. During the 1873 cholera epidemic, Shanghai passed the first harbor quarantine law in China. During the 1910 plague epidemic in Manchuria, patients suspected of infection and anyone who had come in contact with them were required to practice social isolation. This was also the period when Wu Liande, a Chinese-born, Cambridge-trained physician designed facial masks for health care workers and the general public to help prevent contagion.

Qigong can, indeed, increase the wei qi, protective qi. But it can no more repel microscopic viruses than it can shield against bullets (a lesson from China’s Boxer Rebellion).

04/24/2020

With thanks to my teacher, Kenneth Cohen, for his deep insight and teachings.

Photo by Chiang Ying-ying/ Associated Press, worshipers at the Xing Tian Taoist Temple, Taipei, Taiwan. Text ©Kenneth S. Cohen 2020 The Pattern of the Stars The novel coronavirus developed during the last quarter of the year of the Earth Pig. In the Chinese calendar, each year has a heavenly elemen...

04/10/2020

In this lecture my teacher gave some great insights as well as helpful things to practice. So honoured to be part of this programme.

Grateful to the 30 Qigong Teacher Trainee students who participated in a 2 hour zoom lecture and class about the Taoist Qigong understanding of COVID-19, the relationship of climate change to emerging diseases, how to use qigong to connect with nature, and appropriate practices for energetic balance. Please remember that I am offering individual instruction by zoom and within the next few weeks will organize some group zoom classes. Interested?