Singing Dragon was happy to return to the Building Bridges of Integration for Traditional Chinese Medicine Conference in Chantilly, Virginia, from October 18-21. The warm temperatures made it feel like spring but with the beautiful foliage in full swing, fall easily gave itself away. The changing leaves were the perfect backdrop to this year’s conference theme: Transformation: Consciousness and Quantum Medicine.
Attendees enjoyed discovering their Chinese animal and happily donned our pins inspired by Chungliang Al Huang’sThe Chinese Book of Animal Powers.Attendees also stopped by to pick up our new title Mudras of India by Cain and Revital Carroll. Here Kate practices her Mandala Mudra.
During the conference we encouraged attendees to drop their business card into our bowl for a chance at a free copy of Chinese Medical Qigong. We are happy to announce that Deborah Waring of Lake Success, New York was the winner of this book. Congratulations, Deborah!
Our brand new US Qigong Catalog is now available. If you have not yet received a copy, please sign up for our mailing list and we’ll send a free one out to you ASAP.
Readers in the US who request a copy of the catalog before November 30, 2012 will also receive a coupon good for a 15% discount on the entire Singing Dragon list of books. Take advantage of this opportunity to purchase a copy of Damo Mitchell’s Daoist Nei Gong, to get hold of Fire Dragon Meridian Qigong by Master Zhongxian Wu, to discover the practice of Taoist meditation as explained by Yin Shi Zi in Tranquil Sitting or if you would like a fresh copy of the perennial classic, Embrace Tiger, Return to Mountain by Master Chungliang Al Huang, this is your golden opportunity.
To request your copy of our US Qigong Catalog, please click here. To receive your 15% discount coupon, please be sure to click the checkbox for “qigong” under area of interest or else mention this offer in the “any further comments” section.
If you have previously received a copy of the catalog in the mail and would like to take advantage of the 15% discount, please feel free to request a coupon via email at post@intl.singingdragon.com.
In this exclusive performance, Master Zhongxian Wu plays ‘Misty Clouds Over the Xiao and Xiang Rivers’, on a silk-stringed Qin.
Master Zhongxian Wu is the lineage holder of four different schools of Qigong and martial arts. He was Director of the Shaanxi Province Association for Somatic Science and the Shaanxi Association for the Research of Daoist Nourishing Life Practices. Since 1988, Master Wu has instructed thousands of students, both Eastern and Western. He synthesizes wisdom and experience for beginning and advancing practitioners, as well as for patients seeking healing, in his unique and professionally-designed courses and workshops. Please visit www.masterwu.net for details about his teachings.
Damo Mitchell, author of the bestselling book Daoist Nei Gong, will be teaching for the first time in the United States in late September and early October 2012. His first course will take place in Oklahoma City, September 28-30. Following is a description of the course from Damo’s website:
This event will be looking at the nature of the human Heart-Mind. This Alchemical course will be covering the Meditation practices which are an integral part of Daoist spiritual exercises.
What is my connection to the world?
Why do I do the things I do?
Am I ‘stuck’?
This three day course will give those wishing to study Daoist Meditation a chance to begin looking at the nature of their own consciousness and its relationship to the acquired mind which we so often associate with. Through connecting with the energy which flows from our consciousness into our physical body we can begin to see if there are imbalances which are preventing us from developing psychologically and spiritually as we should.
For more information on this course or to register, please visit: Oklahoma Meditation
To follow up, Damo will be offering a series of workshops in Columbia Maryland, October 5-7. Here are some details:
Friday 5th of October: 7-8.30pm – Introductory Evening
This is a free event for those who would like an informal introduction to Daoist Nei Gong practices. Damo will give an overview of the Daoist internal arts and talk about the philosophy which underpins his teachings as well as answering questions and discussing Daoism. The evening will conclude with some internal practices as a warm-up for the weekends events.
Saturday 6th of October: 10.30am-6pm – Nei Gong Foundations
This day long workshop will look at the core practices of Sung breathing and Daoist Qi Gong exercises. A strong foundation will be built and then the initial layers of Nei Gong training will gradually be added to the practice. The emphasis will be on gaining an understanding of the Daoist internal systems and freeing up blockages from the body.
Saturday 6th of October: 7pm-9pm – Daoist Meditation
On the Saturday evening, those who wish may join Damo for a special class which looks at the practice of Daoist meditation which is also known as Internal Alchemy. Teaching will focus on initiating the firing process within the lower Dan Tien and awakening the small water wheel of Qi.
Sunday 7th of October: 10am-4pm – Daoist Nei Gong Practice
On the Sunday Damo will be teaching a day long workshop on the more advanced elements of Nei Gong training. The focus will be on gaining conscious control of the energy system and awakening it to clear pathogens from the energy body. Please note that some of the material on this workshop will be fairly advanced and so participants should have either prior knowledge of the internal arts or have attended the workshop on Saturday.
For full information about these events and to register, visit: Maryland Events
In this exclusive video, view a powerful demonstration of a section of the Fire Dragon Martial Arts Form, from Master Zhongxian Wu.
Master Zhongxian Wu is the lineage holder of four different schools of Qigong and martial arts. He was Director of the Shaanxi Province Association for Somatic Science and the Shaanxi Association for the Research of Daoist Nourishing Life Practices. Since 1988, Master Wu has instructed thousands of students, both Eastern and Western. He synthesizes wisdom and experience for beginning and advancing practitioners, as well as for patients seeking healing, in his unique and professionally-designed courses and workshops. Please visit www.masterwu.net for details about his teachings.
Fire Dragon Meridian Qigong is a traditional Qigong form that embodies the spirit of the rising dragon, an auspicious symbol of transformation in Chinese culture. The rising dragon represents the rebirth of new life energy. Regular practice of this form establishes free flowing Qi in the 12 meridian systems of the body and helps transform areas of stagnation
In this exclusive video, view a demonstration of part of the Fire Dragon Meridian Qigong form, bringing forth the power and energy flow of the form.
Master Zhongxian Wu is the lineage holder of four different schools of Qigong and martial arts. He was Director of the Shaanxi Province Association for Somatic Science and the Shaanxi Association for the Research of Daoist Nourishing Life Practices. Since 1988, Master Wu has instructed thousands of students, both Eastern and Western. He synthesizes wisdom and experience for beginning and advancing practitioners, as well as for patients seeking healing, in his unique and professionally-designed courses and workshops. Master Wu is the author of Vital Breath of the Dao, Seeking the Spirit of the Book of Change, The 12 Chinese Animals and Chinese Shamanic Cosmic Orbit Qigong, all published by Singing Dragon. Please visit www.masterwu.net for details about his teachings.
In this final instalment of their discussion, Masters Zhongxian Wu and Damo Mitchell turn their attention to a fundamental aspect of Chinese philosophy which is often neglected in both Qigong practice and Chinese Medicine – the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches.
Master Zhongxian Wu is the lineage holder of four different schools of Qigong and martial arts. While in China, he served as Director of the Shaanxi Province Association for Somatic Science and the Shaanxi Association for the Research of Daoist Nourishing Life Practices. He has now been living and teaching in the West for just over ten years.
Damo Mitchell has studied the martial, medical and spiritual arts of Asia since the age of four. His studies have taken him across the planet in search of authentic masters. He is the technical director of the Lotus Nei Gong School of Daoist Arts, and teaches Nei Gong in the UK and Sweden.
Master Zhongxian Wu is the lineage holder of four different schools of Qigong and martial arts. While in China, he served as Director of the Shaanxi Province Association for Somatic Science and the Shaanxi Association for the Research of Daoist Nourishing Life Practices. He has now been living and teaching in the West for just over ten years.
Damo Mitchell has studied the martial, medical and spiritual arts of Asia since the age of four. His studies have taken him across the planet in search of authentic masters. He is the technical director of the Lotus Nei Gong School of Daoist Arts, and teaches Nei Gong in the UK and Sweden.
The Six Healing Sounds teach children the calming benefit of pausing and using the breath to connect to the present. Observing the sensations of the body without thinking about the past or the future strengthens our awareness of the peace we have at the core of our being. In Qigong, negative emotions are not considered ‘bad’. Holding onto, cultivating and acting on negative emotions is when the ‘bad’ comes into things. Because negative emotions are part of the ego and have a role to play (mainly related to survival) it’s good to learn how to acknowledge them, listen to anything useful they are trying to communicate and then release the excess of them. Central to this practice is an acceptance that trying to resist, ignore or smother your feelings will only, in the end, make them grow stronger. Rather than letting negative emotions have the driving seat over your brain and body you can teach yourself how to regain calm.
The exercise that generates the most feedback from my book, Six Healing Sounds with Lisa and Ted: Qigong for Children, is the one that helps children to stop worrying. Basically, worry happens when we meditate on fear, and being fearful gets in the way of clear thinking. When faced with a threat, the mind instinctively becomes more focussed on the urgent actions needed for survival and less inclined towards higher levels of thinking. This ‘fight or flight’ response far exceeds the requirements of our contemporary daily stressors. For children, things like spelling tests and unfamiliar situations and ideas can be interpreted as a ‘threat’, stimulating their adrenal glands and provoking biochemical changes in the brain that incline them to freeze, fight, hide or run. Over-stimulation of the adrenal glands takes its toll on the body, so it’s especially important to develop habits to restore calmness. Through a combination of smiling, deep breathing, visualization, positive thinking, gentle movements and sound-making Qigong breathing techniques help to reverse the body’s stress response and instead support its physical and mental well-being.
These exercises might seem strange when you first encounter them but there is a growing body of scientific research to support them. In my book, Ted overcomes his worries by doing the healing sound exercise for the stomach. The stomach together with the oesophagus, small intestine and the colon, make up what we refer to as the gut. We all know what it’s like to have ‘butterflies in the stomach’ and ‘gut feelings’, but it is a lesser known fact that there are about the same amount of neurotransmitters (one hundred million) in the gut as in the brain. These nerve cells communicate with each other via chemical and electric signalling, processing information and learning from past patterns. The healing sound exercise for the stomach helps children to establish healthy patterns for when they encounter worry. Instead of supporting an anxiety-driven chain reaction, they learn to pause, close their eyes, smile and breathe in the feeling of trust and openness into the belly. They think about their stomach smiling and filling up with a warm yellow light. Then, with eyes open, they exhale worry with a ‘whooooooo’ sound, imagining it leaving them as dark cloudy smoke. Doing this helps the brain and the stomach to calm each other down. Smiling produces serotonin and nearly all of that ‘feel-good’ chemical goes to the gut to help it with digestion. It also reduces cortisol, adrenalin and noradrenaline and it helps you to relax by getting the brain to release chemicals that not only make you feel happier, but support your immune system too. And, breathing deeply gives the brain a chance to see the broader picture, it’s calming and detoxifying and helps you to feel more positive.
Click to hear what the Six Healing Sounds should sound like!
Worry and anxiety is what keeps most of us awake at night. I know from personal experience and from the response of many of my readers that this practice works as well for adults as it does for children. I actually get a lot of adults telling me they’ve bought my book for themselves!
When you are doing this exercise, yourself or with a child, gently rub your stomach in a clockwise direction. Cast your mind on beautiful images of late summer (in Qigong, each organ is associated with a season) and as you smile, picture your stomach smiling too. Practising gratitude is medicine for the body and the soul so as you do this exercise, say ‘thank you’ to your stomach for all the hard work it does.
A little bit of time spent doing the Six Healing Sounds helps to promote relaxation both physically and mentally. It is also a great way to introduce children to the benefits of Qigong from a young age, and crucially, gives them tools to help themselves to deal with life’s challenges.
Master Zhongxian Wu is the lineage holder of four different schools of Qigong and martial arts. While in China, he served as Director of the Shaanxi Province Association for Somatic Science and the Shaanxi Association for the Research of Daoist Nourishing Life Practices. He has now been living and teaching in the West for just over ten years.
Damo Mitchell has studied the martial, medical and spiritual arts of Asia since the age of four. His studies have taken him across the planet in search of authentic masters. He is the technical director of the Lotus Nei Gong School of Daoist Arts, teaches Nei Gong in the UK and Sweden.
In this, the first of three videos, the two authors provide key insights and advice for the Qigong practitioner on the steps necessary to move forward in practice, and on the gradual nature of learning and the importance of taking pleasure in repetition.
Singing Dragon was happy to return to the Building Bridges of Integration for Traditional Chinese Medicine Conference in Chantilly, Virginia, from October 18-21. The warm temperatures made it feel like spring but with the beautiful foliage in full swing, fall easily gave itself away. The changing leaves were the perfect backdrop to this year’s conference theme: Transformation: Consciousness and Quantum Medicine.
titles. These included I Ching Acupuncture by David Twicken, Acupuncture for New Practitioners by John Hamwee, Fire Dragon Meridian Qigong by Master Zhongxian Wu and Dr. Karin Taylor Wu and Illustrated Chinese Moxibustion Techniques and Methods by Professor Chang Xiaorong, Professor Hong Jing and Professor Yi Shouxiang. By the end of our first day we had even sold out of Frog’s Breathtaking Speech by Michael Chissick!
Attendees enjoyed discovering their Chinese animal and happily donned our pins inspired by Chungliang Al Huang’s The Chinese Book of Animal Powers. Attendees also stopped by to pick up our new title Mudras of India by Cain and Revital Carroll. Here Kate practices her Mandala Mudra.
