Qigong and Daoist Meditation (IN-PERSON CLASS in Tampa)

THE BASICS:

This 75-minute class introduces various forms of qigong and Daoist meditation. It is led by Steve Geisz, Ph.D. (RottenWoodQigong.com, YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@rottenwoodcanbecarved).

Sundays, 6:30 - 7:45 p.m.

Mt. Song Martial Arts Academy, 6412 N Central Ave, Tampa, FL 33604.

$15 per class session (or a 4-pack of classes for $40).

Discount available for Mt. Song Martial Arts students.

Beginners welcome.

Want some idea what the class will be like? Please check out the videos I post over at my Rotten Wood Qigong YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@rottenwoodcanbecarved

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WHAT IS QIGONG?

Qigong is Chinese mindful movement and yoga-like exercise.

It consists in movements, postures, and meditations that draw on traditional Chinese contemplative practices, health-preservation techniques, and martial arts and that instantiate in the body aspects of Daoist, Buddhist, and various Chinese folk-metaphysical worldviews.

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WHAT IS DAOIST MEDITATION?

The Daoist (i.e., Taoist) meditation practices we do in this class involve visualization and draw upon traditional Chinese Yin-Yang and Five Phase metaphysics.

Two meditation practices in particular that we will do over the weeks are the Microcosmic Orbit Meditation and the Inner Smile Meditation.

Microcosmic Orbit meditation (i.e., Small Heavenly Orbit; Xiǎo zhōutiān 小周天) is a traditional Daoist practice. There are many different ways to do the practice, but, at a basic level, the practice involves moving (or imagining moving) qi (qì 氣) in the body up along the surface of the back, over the top of the head, back down along the front line of the body.

The Inner Smile Meditation is a practice taught by Mantak Chia and other teachers in the Universal Tao/Healing Tao lineage that Mantak Chia founded. It is a visualization practice that uses the correlative cosmology of the Chinese "Five Phases" (i.e., "the Five Elements" or the "Five Agents"; Wǔxíng 五行).

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WHAT WILL WE DO IN THIS CLASS?

We will begin with simple warm-up exercises and then do moving qigong for the first part of class. You do not need a yoga mat for these practices.
During the second part of class, we will do seated Daoist meditation.

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HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

The cost is $15 per Sunday evening class session.

Current members of RottenWooodQigong.com and students of Mt. Song Martial Arts get a $5 discount (so that the cost for them is $10 per session).

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WHEN IS IT?

This 75-minute class meets Sunday evenings from 6:30 - 7:45 p.m.

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WHERE IS IT?

The class meets at Mt. Song Martial Arts Academy in the Seminole Heights neighborhood of Tampa:

6412 N Central Ave, Tampa, FL 33604

Parking is available I front and along the side of the building.

Info about Mt. Song Martial Arts Academy is available here: https://www.mtsong.com

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WHO IS THE TEACHER?

This qigong class is led by Steve Geisz, Ph.D.

Steve is a graduate of the multi-year qigong-teacher-training program of Ken Cohen, a Certified Full Instructor in the Universal Tao/Healing Tao qigong system of Mantak Chia, and a registered yoga teacher (E-RYT 200, RYT 500). He also has a Ph.D. in philosophy.

RottenWoodQigong.com

YouTube: @RottenWoodCanBeCarved

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WHAT IS UP WITH THE “ROTTEN WOOD” BRANDING?

In the Analects (5:10), Confucius’s student Zaiwo is said to have slept during the daytime. In response, Confucius said, “Rotten wood cannot be carved, and a wall of manure cannot be troweled.”

Here’s to hoping that Confucius didn’t mean it and that rotten wood can indeed be carved.