I have known Ben Calder primarily through his work as a Kinesiologist and more recently as an Internationally qualified LifeForce Qigong Teacher (pronounced chi-gong).
I am delighted to announce that Ben and I will be collaborating by linking in to each others class timetable thereby offering both our clients a wide range of classes to enjoy.
We are bringing you two Qigong classes a week that you can link in to with Ben through LivePilatesOnline. You can book his classes through our standard packages or as a one-off payment. Please go to our Classes page, choose “Live” and scroll down or to the next page using the blue arrows to book.
About Ben:
I have been practicing Qigong since 1990 when I was first introduced to the standing Qigong practice of Zhan Zhuang (Standing like a Tree) that still makes up a core aspect of my personal and professional practice. I have studied many styles and forms of Qigong, including training with Chinese Grandmasters. My main practice is LifeForce Qigong, developed by my brother Sai Calder, of which I am a certified international teacher. By far this has been the most profound system I have studied, both for its pragmatic language and its direct experience of the benefits of Qigong and the actual sensations of Qi that can be felt in the forms.
What is Qigong
Many people know the practice of Tai Chi (Taiqi) and it’s use is widespread in China for maintaining health. Qigong (Chi Kung, Ki Gong) is the basis of all Tai Chi and there are around 3000 Qigong forms of which the various types of Tai Chi are but a part. While Tai Chi is predominantly a martial arts practice, the majority of Qigong is a health support practice.
At it’s basis, Qigong is about coordinated movement and breathing. The skill of which increases as we develop our practice, leading to greater awareness of our body/mind integration and to deeper states of peace and relaxation as the meditative aspects of the practice increase over time. The soft flowing set of formulated movements are based on specific structural alignment of the body. This helps to activate bio-energy flow throughout the entire system, incorporating total mind/body awareness.
The focus of the movements is to create a change in the body and mind in a 4 stage process:
Through the system of LifeForce Qigong we have a series of goals we are working towards in this practice:
Removing residual tensions in the body
Centring body and mind
Grounding and stabilising body and mind
Body Alignment
Building and regulation of our LifeForce
Creating Self-Awareness
Calming & Regulating the Mind
Feeling and Being with everything that arises in the emotional field
The practice can be carried out by anyone of any age and state of health and many of the exercises can be adapted to be done from a seated position, so even if you are unable to stand and move for an entire session, you will still be able to carry out a deeply beneficial practice with no restriction.
Current research on Qigong can be found on the NHS Networks page for Tai Chi & Qigong: https://www.networks.nhs.uk/nhs-networks/tai-chi-chi-kung-for-rehabilitation