Somatic Qigong

I have put up this blog as a place to park some links and create some content for my new site that will later be found at http://www.somatic-qigong.com

I will regularly add content and links of interest that will eventually go onto the new site. So, come back often and see what you might find.

What is Somatic Qigong?

I developed 'Somatic Qigong' after studying Hanna Somatic Education and becoming one of the few certified Hanna Somatic Educators in Canada and the only one in Japan at the time.

With HSE I believed I had found the missing link in my Qigong and Martial Arts practice.

Before learning about Hanna Somatic Education I had always felt there was something lacking in the Qigong, Tai Chi, Aikido and other training I had done. I could not quite put my finger on it until I did the HSE training.

I finally realized why it was frustrating for students learning various movement arts when they were told to 'relax'. All my teachers would repeatedly tell their students and myself to 'relax the waist, relax this, relax that', or just 'relax!'

But, as students, and probably as teachers, no one really knew what they were talking about.

You see we always thought we WERE relaxed. We would all quite often say aloud or to ourselves but, but...'I AM relaxed!..aren't I?'

The missing link was that in order to relax something we needed control of it. That is we needed to be able to 'turn it on' and control it 100% before we could possibly 'turn it off'. If we cannot contract a muscle and fully control it throughout its range of motion how can we relax it? We have nothing to compare too!

So, after studying the functioning of the brain and nervous system I could begin to interpret the classic teachings of Tai Chi, Qigong, and Yoga, and so on in a new light. Now, it was clear why Tai Chi was more powerful and effective when practiced SLOWLY. Slowness allows the sensory part of the voluntary cortex in the brain to pick up more information and therefore heighten motor control.

My practice all of sudden began to make sense and all the pieces of my decades of training began to fit together.

'Soma' essentially means the 'body as experienced from within'.

Hence the focus in Somatic Qigong is to heighten your 'somatic' awareness which leads to better motor control and coordination. When you have this under control then we move on to moving the 'Qi'.

If you would like to learn more about Hanna Somatics go to:
www.hannasomatics.com and www.somatics.com

For more information on Qigong go to http://www.qi-journal.com/

Keep posted for information on group sessions coming up in Victoria, BC.

Private sessions in HSE are available and about three private sessions are always recommended to get a good foundation in Somatic principles which will help you Qigong practice, Yoga, or whatever movement arts you participate in.

Step One: Get out of pain
Step Two: Improve Control
Step Three: Develop Habits of Constant Improvement

I look forward to sharing this work.