Living Qigong
Having completed the foundation aspects of the training, the Living Qigong module is about starting to go deeper into the underlying principles and theories with a view to living a qigong informed life.
Unlike the fully accredited course, joining this modular training will only provide you with a certificate of completion and we will not be asking you to submit work for marking and feedback. To find out more about the fully accredited training, please visit the Teacher Training page
Week 1 (21st Jan) – Classic Chinese Medicine
Since the rise of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the West, many variations of Chinese Medicine have developed. In this session we explore Classical Chinese Medicine, arguably the forerunner to Traditional Chinese Medicine and a system with greater nuance and depth than what is generally presented in the west today.
Marilia Blackburn will lead this session. Marilia has been working as a Classical Chinese Medicine acupuncturist for over 3 decades, having trained in her native Brazil. Based in Cheshire in the UK, Marilia is also a Zhineng Qigong practitioner and teacher and offers a unique blend of understanding that we feel is highly beneficial for qigong teachers everywhere.
Week 2 (28th Jan) – Chinese Spirituality and Philosophy
Understanding the spiritual and philosophical frameworks that are part and parcel of qigong is invaluable when teaching. Recognising the influence of Chan Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism on the practice helps us to understand the underlying principles that are often hidden within the practice and thereby approach them in a well informed way when teaching.
Feixia Yu will lead this session. Feixia is native Chinese and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of recent Chinese history and philosophy. She is a co-author of Laozi’s Prose Poetry, a Health Qigong teacher and has recently retired from her work with the Confucius Institute through the University of Central Lancashire.
Week 3 (4th Feb) – Integrating Qigong into Everyday life
Having taken a deeper dive into the underlying principle and philosophies of the practice, we can now return to the concept of living a qigong informed life. Weaving together ideas and frameworks from previous months with the insight from the previous two weeks of teaching, we start to explore ways that we can integrate qigong in a way that helps us remain more centred and aware, but also provides practical examples and ideas to share with our students.
Week 4 (11th Jan) – Presentation Week
Each month we will have one week that is run as a presentation week with peer feedback, In the western foundation month we will be asking you to present for 3 minutes on the similarities and differences between qigong and at least one other embodied practice (e.g Yoga, Taiji etc.). The presentations will be peer reviewed so this is also an opportunity to try out different teaching styles, share different perspectives and learn from each other.