Qigong + Bagua, Brighton
9-12 August 2012 Energy Arts Qigong + Bagua Zhang Palm Changes Courses. Senior Energy Arts Bagua Teacher, Paul Cavel—I will teach Qigong on Thursday and Friday evenings from 7-10 pm (6 hours) and Bagua Zhang Circle Walking Meditation on the weekend, Saturday and Sunday (10 hours). Heaven + Earth Qigong Energetics Heaven + Earth Qigong consists of a single external movement that stretches all the muscles, tendons, ligaments and fascia, opening your body from the inside out. In this qigong exercise set, the pulse (open and close) is also...
read moreBagua Exercises: Balancing the Legs
Balancing Exercises Video Lesson 5 In the last lessons, we’ve balanced the arms in symmetrical and asymmetrical postures as well as while turning the body. Now we will look at balancing the legs. The three primary points to balancing the legs are: Keeping the pelvis level. Maintaining an even stretch through both legs. Not compressing the knees. Start by aligning the knees, move up to leveling the pelvis and then sink the tailbone. Stretch the knees without allowing the body to go down in height. The spine must stay erect. When you...
read moreBagua Exercises: Balancing Asymmetrical Postures
Balancing Exercises Video Lesson 4 In the least lesson, we looked at balancing non-symmetrical movement in tai chi. Now we’ll apply the same principles to asymmetrical bagua postures with the goal of equalising the body’s halves, creating even stretches and maintaining the left-right balance. Happy practising, Paul Any physical and/or energetic exercise can carry risks. Do not attempt these exercises if you have any physical, emotional or mental conditions that may make you susceptible to injury. © 2011 Paul Cavel—All rights...
read moreTurning Exercises in Qigong, Bagua & Tai Chi
Balancing Exercises Video Lesson 2 In this lesson, we continue our balancing exercises by looking at turning in the internal energy arts. Turning is a component of most qigong sets and all bagua and tai chi styles. So stabilising and equalising your turn (and weight shift into either leg) is a fundamental prerequisite to achieving a truly internal practice and the benefits that come from it. Many internal arts practitioners have greater flexibility and range of motion on one side of their body and they reinforce this imbalance by playing up...
read moreBalancing Exercises in Tai Chi, Qigong & Bagua
Balancing Exercises Video Lesson 1 In this video lesson, I’ll give you some balancing exercises for your qigong, bagua or tai chi practice. Keeping both sides of your body equally strong is important to maintaining optimal health and well-being. Happy practising, Paul Any physical and/or energetic exercise can carry risks. Do not attempt these exercises if you have any physical, emotional or mental conditions that may make you susceptible to injury. © 2011 Paul Cavel—All rights reserved. Copying or distributing any ...
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Bagua + Qigong, Kӧln
11-13 November 2011 | Twisting & Coiling: Gods Qigong was developed millennia ago to relax the body and mind, reduce stress and anxiety, and systematically build health and vitality from deep inside the body. Walking meditation, including Circle Walking and the Bagua Single Palm Change, amplifies all of the positive benefits of Gods Qigong with the purpose of boosting energy and increasing flexibility. In Köln, Paul will teach various techniques for optimising the efficiency of the vascular system, weeding out deeply rooted tension and...
read moreCombining & Balancing Movement & Stillness to Supercharge Your Practice
August 2010 Qigong Training Tip Most people naturally gravitate towards either movement or stillness practices. In the world of the internal arts, movement practices include qigong, bagua and tai chi while stillness practices include standing, sitting and yoga. Whether you move or basically hold some sort of static posture, you can develop incredible internal power for health, martial arts and meditation. However, to get best results, movement and stillness practices ideally become intertwined yin-yang arts, allowing you to approach neigong...
read moreWalking Fast whilst Remaining Sung
July 2010 Walking Tip Most internal arts practices are non-aerobic exercise. They can make you healthy, but you won’t get the aerobic workout you would from Western exercise programmes. Walking fast—using the techniques I’ve been describing for the last three months—combines internal power generation with aerobic exercise. It can upgrade your internal systems and make you super fit! Fast Walking: Preparation Is Key One of the challenges with walking fast is that it brings up a lot of energy and blood into the head. Any stress or...
read moreCircle Walking to Maximise Your Walking Practice
June 2010 Walking Tip The last two months I’ve written about releasing the nerves, creating a sung body and deepening the internals of your walk. Now it’s time to walk in a circle to supercharge your chi. First and foremost, I want to make the statement that I’m not specifically teaching the movements of bagua albeit incorporating aspects associated with bagua. Even still you can use normal heel-toe Circle Walking to generate chi. The Enemy of the Internal Arts Circle Walking, whether heel-toe or mud walking, will give you a method for...
read moreBuilding Internal Content in Walking
May 2010 Walking Tip Last month I wrote about walking with a sung body. If you’ve been practising, you’ve probably realised the important role of your alignments at this stage of the game. Proper alignments are important regardless of the activity, but they’re especially noticeable when you try something new. The Tailbone Drives the Nerve Release Your alignments must be good, so with your weight on one leg, let the pressure go through the back of your knee into the arch of your foot as you start to walk. Once you put the foot forward and...
read moreBagua Water & Heaven Palms
New bagua video for your viewing pleasure: Bagua Water and Heaven...
read moreBalance Your Body
Balance in Qigong, Bagua & Tai Chi Balancing the body is a continuous process as that which is more or less closed now may become more or less open later. This is especially true when you actively engage in the process of unbinding your body. As you focus on any bound place or part of your body and become successful in opening it up, you’ll notice how it becomes looser and relatively more flexible than other body parts. In qigong, bagua and tai chi there are many postures where one hand/arm is on top of or in front of the other; for...
read moreCreating Central Equilibrium in Bagua & Tai Chi
If you practise the spherical material from my blogs Sphere (1) and Sphere (2), then you’ll probably begin to at least develop some idea about how you open your body in a spherical way. Fully embodying spherical principles in your forms takes years of dedicated practise, so don’t be in a rush. The trick is to balance the energies that either open or close in the six directions (up, down, forward, back, left and right)—not the physical range of motion. When the energies are balanced you open up the space in the central...
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