Qi Gong Courses

A course in Five Element Qigong

The Cycle of Life is a series of classes which goes deep into the realm of the Five Elements. There are five modules spread over a year, each module consisting of a term of 6-8 two-hour evening sessions and as a rule also one weekend workshop.

Each of the five phases or elements consists of spiritual principles, energetic dynamics and physical organs. All of them can be accessed and explored through particular Qigong and other related Daoist and Buddhist practices. These practices have been developed with the specific intention to connect to and experience, as actual realities, Yin-Yang duality, the Three Treasures of Shen, Qi and Jing as well as the Five Elements.

As we cultivate the Three Treasures in relation to each Element we begin to realise them on several levels. As states within us their embodiment acts as a catalyst for energetic, personal and spiritual transformation. Hence this process has traditionally been defined as Internal Alchemy.

Certain Daoist schools claim that the insights and understandings that laid the foundations of Chinese energetic medicine were originally discovered by what, of recent times, is termed Qigong. It is worth entertaining such a notion as it certainly explains how the profound mysteries of what became Chinese Medicine and its derivations were conceived.

For practitioners of acupuncture and related disciplines this way of self-development is particularly beneficial. For it is one thing to grasp the conceptual meaning of Daoist notions such as Yin-Yang, Dan Tien (field of treasure), Jing-Luo (connective network of circulation), Wu Xing (five elements), Qi (breath/life-energy), Shen (spirit/consciousness), Jing (essence), Hun (soul), Po (animal self) and Yi (thinking mind); it is another to sense, feel and know them internally.

Another aim of Dao Qi Gong is to immerse oneself into the experience of, and ultimately in a union with, the more transpersonal mystical states such as Yuan (Source), Dao (Way/Principle), Tien and Di, (Heaven and Earth). That which touches our heart, mind and body becomes real to us in a way that intellectual appreciation or academic study can never do. This certainly is true concerning the apprehension of universal states and inner states such as the five phases of being. This is the basic focus and purpose of the Cycle of Life course.

Amadis has spent more than 25 years researching and practicing various styles of Qigong and other similar Oriental spiritual practices having studied with a number of teachers. These include Zhi Xing Wang, Zhen Di Wang, Dr. Hong Xin Shen, Prof. Liu Liu Bang and Master Ni. He was also taught by Chan who was his personal spiritual teacher for 21 years.

To this course he brings insights gained through 25 years exploration of Chinese Medicine, 22 years study of classical Chinese spiritual, philosophical and medical texts, and 20 years clinical experience in Chinese medicine which includes Acupuncture, Chinese Herbal Medicine and Medical Qigong.

Understandings developed over15 years through the study and practice of body-centered psychotherapies and how the five elements, yin-yang theory Chinese mysticism in general specifically relate to the dynamics of the psyche, are also incorporated into this course.

Please refer to the Core Integration web site in the Heart of Being - Cycle of Life pages for details regarding what each specific phase/element relates to.