Introduction to the Daodejing with Elisabeth Rochat de la Vallee

Elisabeth will be here in Petaluma on Monday November 14th from 1pm to 5pm presenting an introduction to the Daodejing (Tao Teh Ching) and early Daoism. Most of Elisabeth's public programs focus on the Classical Chinese medical texts, so this is a fantastic opportunity to get her insight and analysis of this fundamental philosophical text that informs so much of the traditional Chinese health practices. The fee for the workshop is $50.

It is not necessary to have a background in Chinese Medicine, just an interest in Daoism, Chinese philosophy or Classical Chinese Medicine.

Please contact the Center for Traditional Health Arts at (707) 763-8040 for more information.

A bit about Elisabeth:

Elisabeth Rochat de la Vallee is an internationally respected scholar and translator of Chinese Classical Medical and Philosophical texts, as well as a practitioner of acupuncture in Paris. Her lectures are popular all over Europe and in North and South America for their unique depth, accuracy of detail and liveliness.

Dozens of Elisabeth's books and articles have been published in several languages. Her long time partnership with Father Claude Larre, produced such works as the 7-volume Ricci Dictionary of Chinese Characters, their translation of selected chapters of the Nei Jing, Ling Shu and Su Wen, as well as the set of 16 books transcribed from their English lecture series published by Monkey Press.

Elisabeth's passion for classical Chinese Medicine and philosophy, along with her dedication to teaching, make her lectures an inspiration.

The Chinese Medicinal Herb Farm - Book Release!

Peg Schafer's book is set to be released in November!

This book will be a fantastic resource for those interested in cultivating Chinese medicinal herbs, or even those simply wanting to understand Chinese herbs at a deeper level.

Peg has comprehensive information on cultivating each herb that is covered and I wrote a brief medicinal section for each one as well.

You can pre-order the book at: http://www.chinesemedicinalherbfarm.com/

Medical Qigong Ongoing Group - Second Meeting 10/15/11

We had a great first meeting of the new ongoing Medical Qigong group. We covered a variety of related topics, including upper spine mobility, developing whole body movement within the Moving Qigong, a demonstration and discussion of the whole system and our group practice, of course.

At our second meeting on October 15th we will continue to look at mobility issues, begin to work on some progressions for developing hip and leg mobility and strength and analyze the Second Moving Gong (Taiji Kai He Gong), as well as group practice and discussions!

The group is pretty full but feel free to contact me if you are interested in participating.

Swimming Fish Gong & Monkey Paw Gong Demo

These are two advanced Medical Qigong exercises that I was asked to demonstrate.

Cultivating Nature Workshop

Saturday, September 17th 1:30 -3:30, $35

This class will cover Classical Chinese Medicine approaches to the healing process through cultivating a relationship with nature, understanding the rhythms and movements of qi and developing awareness. We will explore passages from classical Chinese texts, discuss traditional Chinese characters and images and cover traditional practices for connecting with nature and our own nature

Ongoing Medical Qigong Group

First Meeting, September 17th from 9:30-11:30, $25

My goal with this ongoing group is to provide support for qigong development through creating a group dynamic, discussing topics that relate to Medical Qigong and Chinese Medicine in depth, teaching intermediate and advanced exercises and providing a gathering point for discussion between group members.

Group practice is an important complement to daily practice and will form the foundation of the ongoing group. In this first meeting we will also discuss the nature of qi, different levels of qigong practice and the background of this system, and I will demonstrate the complete moving gong of this system with commentary.

Please contact me with any questions.

Qi, Nature & Perception

This is a 3 minute audio clip of a discussion of qi that was made at Mt.Shasta. The photo below is of the creek that you can hear in the background.

Qi, Nature & Perception.MP3