Rachel offers Qi Gong classes and movement awareness (somatic) classes based on the work of Moshe Feldenkrais.
Please scroll down for details of somatic classes.
about qi gong
Qi gong (chi kung) is an ancient Taoist system of movement whcih enhances energy, promotes vitality, and leads to greater relaxation in the mind and body. It is a wonderful form of mindfulness in movement. Qi gong literally means “working with energy” and has the same roots as traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture and tai chi. It draws on the use of breath, gentle movement and mindfulness to cleanse, strengthen and circulate chi (qi or life force). Research at the Beijing College of Traditional Chinese Medicine shows that qi gong extends life span, promotes healing and helps to cultivate a healthy body/mind.
QI GONG SERIES: the 8 Silk Brocades
DATES and VENUEs in 2024 to be confirmed
$120 for the 8-week series
The Silk Brocades is a beautiful flowing practice that i have found personally useful in focusing the mind, building energy (qi), healing from illness, enhancing flexibility and balancing emotion. It is also known as Baduanjin qi gong., and one of the most widely-practised forms of medicine qi gong.
Rachel offers private qi gong tuition for individuals or couples in Wellington and Paekakariki, and works with organisations and corporate groups. She is available to come to your conference or organisation for early morning sessions or lunch-tine sessions.
FEES: Private individual sessions $95 per hour in Kapiti. Please enquire about a sliding scale if that’s out of your current financial reach.
Fees for organisations depends on your budget and the size of your team. Please click below for a free quote or proposal.
faq
Why practise qi gong?
Qi gong helps you to:
• Raise your energy levels
• Promote self-healing and overall health
• Reduce stress levels
• Improve sleep and digestion
• Develop strength
• Cultivate a calmer and more focused mind
• Enhance vitality
• Improve concentration, mindfulness and presence
There have been conferences hosted in China and the U.S. for discussion of academic research into qi gong. It has been shown to improve posture and respiration, induce the relaxation response, cause favorable changes in blood chemistry, and improve self-awareness and concentration. Research suggests that qi gong may be beneficial for asthma, arthritis, cancer, cardiovascular illness, headaches, pain, chronic fatigue and a wide range of more simple illnesses.
What style of qi ong will I learn?
I teach a blend of Universal Tao qi gong practices, breath work and movement practices drawn from medicine qi gong, Shibashi part i tai chi qigong, and the 8 Silk Brocades. Some specific practices include:
• 'Inner Smile' self-compassion meditation
• The six Taoist 'healing sounds'
• Qi gong stretches and warm ups
• Shibashi part i form
• Qi or chi self-massage
Qi gong looks pretty slow. Would it suit older people better?
Even though the practices look easy, you may be surprised that they do in fact require stamina. I’ve had children who have come to classes and really enjoy them. People who usually prefer a grunty workout have been surprised as to how good they feel after apparently doing less. One of my qi gong teachers suggests that to avoid energy depletion, no-one ever exercises for more than half the total time they are maximally capable of sustaining, and that to get fit, one simply increases that half.
Do I need to be fit to come to a class?
Qi gong builds strength over time. If you are a beginner, you may need to do less and take more frequent rests than more experienced students. You are encouraged to take responsibility for caring for yourself and you will certainly not feel any pressure in my classes to do more than is comfortable for you. Research has shown that imagining doing qi gong practice yields results equivalent to actually doing it!
Is there any meditation involved?
In a sense you could say that qi gong is a form of meditation in movement. I teach qi gong as a mindfulness practice and so always emphasize staying in the present moment during the movements and bringing the mind back to the present when it wanders. Some of the movements involve visualization (e.g. images of roots growing down from your feet into the earth). This potentizes the practice - energy always follows thought.
What are the different options for me to learn qi gong?
Other than joining an advertised class, you are welcome to organise a group of people and a venue, and i can come and teach a series of 6 or 8 classes. Private qi gong sessions for individuals or couples are available and you can e-mail or ring for more information about those. I regularly offer one-day mindfulness and qi gong retreats. And if you want to treat yourself, residential retreats, which always include qi gong, are a fantastic way to learn qi gong in a beautiful and natural location and in the context of time out for renewal and reflection.
FREE YOUR PELVIS and HIPS -
a series of 7 Movement Awareness lessons in Kapiti
(based on the work of Moshe Feldenkrais)
TUES 16 APRIL - TUES 28 MAY
7 - 8pm
Pure Wellbeing
RAUMATI SOUTH
Fee: $105 for series
(FULLY BOOKED)
In these movement awareness lessons, you’ll be guided through a series of slow and unusual movements. The lessons, as well as giving you the many benefits of mindfulness, can help you uncover habit patterns which cause limitation and strain, so your nervous system can learn new possibilities of movement. The outcome is that long-held patterns of muscular tension dissolve, giving you more options for how to move (and think) with more ease. Then, in your everyday activities, in sporting, working and creative life, there is greater ease and poise, improved posture, more pleasure in moving, better balance and less effort.
As human beings we live only a very small percentage of our potential. Through our upbringing and social conditioning we sacrifice much of our spontaneity and authentic passion. In other words, we try to become what we are not. Because these limitations and inhibitions are mirrored into the body with a corresponding restriction in the vocabulary of movement and expression, the journey towards full potential and maturity can be cultivated through the medium of movement.
Movement awareness, based on the work of Moshe Feldenkrais, is a mindfulness-in-movement tool that improves the way you function. The tools of movement and awareness are combined and, over time, give these benefits:
Improve posture, flexibility and co-ordination
Increase functioning affected by injury
Enjoy a well-functioning body into older age
Enhance self-awareness and well being
Improve ease in creative/sporting/musical performance
Reduce stress and prevent overuse & injury
These sessions are suitable for beginners or those with experience.
people say:
"My experience was always a pleasurable one; each session was a special time reserved for me and how I manage my body... The act of focusing on the minutiae of the body and the less-is-more approach to movement, I found cleansing because it was so contrary to the way I normally use my body in my professional work."
- Julian Raphael, Wellington Community Choir director
"After doing Rachel's classes in workshops, I notice the difference not only in my body but in my whole sense of well-being. My body feels taller, broader, and more balanced and I feel more naturalness and ease. If I’m driving my hands rest lightly on the steering wheel of the car. I feel a:: if I have been meditating for an hour and my body/mind is much more present
- Sally Latham, Wellington counsellor and psychotherapist
"After many years practicing lessons, I still find that I have new insights at every workshop... Sensations and memories of sessions often come unbidden in everyday life, usually to remind me that an easier more relaxed way will get a movement or task accomplished without the need to stretch, strain or overwork muscle groups."
- D. Y., Victoria University administrator.
cancellation policy for rachel’s qi gong and feldenkrais classes:
Full refunds (minus the Eventbrite booking fee, if applicable) are provided up to 2 week before the course starts.
Full refunds, minus a $10 administration fee, (and the Eventbrite booking fee, if applicable), are provided up to 2 weeks before a course starts
50% refunds are provided (minus the Eventbrite booking fee, if applicable), if you cancel within 2 weeks and up to two days of a course starting
No refunds or transfers are available within 48 hours of a course starting
You may transfer your booking to a later retreat, but if this is within 2 weeks of the event, there will be a 10% admin fee (10% of the cost of the cancelled course) incurred