Stillness Movement Nei Gong Workshop: 6 -- 8 December 2014

[altiora]

I thought I'd provide a review of the Stillness Movement Nei Gong workshop and the clinical application workshop, which I attended in Springfield, Missouri in December 2014. Both workshops were led by Michael Lomax (Ya Mu) with the assistance of his senior students.

 

This is a personal review of those workshops. I encourage other attendees on Tao Bums to post their own personal reflections on the workshops.

 

This was the first workshops with Michael; I travelled from Perth in Western Australia to attend it.

 

My past experience with Michael had been seeing and sensing his qi projection in a video clip: http://qigongamerica.blogspot.com.au/ This prompted me to order his Gift of the Tao qigong DVDs, which I used to teach myself the movements. The DVDs and the video clip whetted my appetite to explore the Gift of the Tao system first-hand from Michael.

 

There were over 20 attendees at the workshops. I wasn't the only international student there -- two attendees travelled from the UK and Brazil. The other attendees came from all over the USA.

 

My first -- and lasting -- impression of the workshops was of the enthusiasm and friendliness of the teacher and students.

 

I've been to numerous meditation and qigong workshops, but have never encountered such a welcoming community of people. I found myself quickly connecting with several of my fellow attendees, sharing stories of our spiritual journeys and the power of qigong, and sharing insight into how to perform the movements. The community spirit was fostered by a workshop dinner. After travelling such a distance and being so far from home, the community spirit meant a great deal to me.

 

Michael was a very personable teacher. I was hugely impressed by him greeting each of the attendees individually at the start of the workshop. There was no Guru-complex going on. This impression was reinforced by Michael getting his senior students to lead the workshop teaching of the three Gift of the Tao movement sets. Michael created a qi-field during the workshops, and this was responsible for the many breakthroughs that I and other attendees experienced.

 

During the workshop, we practised the Gift of the Tao 1 and 2. We also learnt the Gift of the Tao 3, a set of movements that has been revealed to Michael more recently. The power of all three movement systems has to be experienced to be believed -- they induce strong qi sensations within, alter the environmental qi and hugely elevate your awareness. Having practised a handful of qigong systems over 18 years, the Gift of the Tao system has induced in me the most profound experiences of any system I have tried.

 

The teaching at the workshop was of a very high level. The senior students brought their own insights into how to perform the movements, and we had ample opportunity to practise each movement and to ask questions and seek clarification from the teachers. During the workshop, I was rather dizzy with the amount of information being imparted, but found that my understanding of the energetics of each movement enhanced incredibly. On my return home, I learnt the Gift of the Tao 1 and 2 movements thoroughly in three days flat. Nothing taught at the workshops went to waste it seems

 

Perhaps the highlight of the workshops for me was the "lighting the fire". This involved Michael projecting qi so as to unlock the attendees' ability to undertake high level qigong. As a result of Michael's qi projection, I experienced much spontaneous body movement and had several visions, such as seeing the heavens and earth open up.

 

I also attended the optional clinical application workshop. This workshop involved Michael and senior students teaching qi healing techniques. All attendees were then able to practise the techniques on each other to heal various ailments. The techniques are very simple yet profound. As a result of practising the Gift of the Tao movements and Stillness Movement, you quickly develop the ability to amass and manipulate qi. Pretty much all attendees were able to achieve an 80 - 100% healing rate. The potential implications for our healthcare system of these techniques is mind blowing.

 

In closing, I am so glad that I attended the workshops. After arriving in Springfield on a wet cold winter's day and fatigued and bothered after much flying, I had nagging doubts about the wisdom of attending the workshop. Repeatedly I asked myself "what the hell am I doing here! Why am I spending this time and money coming all this way when I'm unemployed and should be looking for a job!" I am glad to say that these nagging doubts quickly left me -- the workshops were profound and life enhancing for me.

 

So there is no doubt in my mind that if you have the chance, do attend one of Michael's workshops.

[Brian]

It was a pleasure to meet you, my friend.

 

It was indeed an extraordinary weekend!

[Ya Mu]

I thought I'd provide a review of the Stillness Movement Nei Gong workshop and the clinical application workshop, which I attended in Springfield, Missouri in December 2014. Both workshops were led by Michael Lomax (Ya Mu) with the assistance of his senior students.

 

This is a personal review of those workshops. I encourage other attendees on Tao Bums to post their own personal reflections on the workshops.

 

This was the first workshops with Michael; I travelled from Perth in Western Australia to attend it.

 

My past experience with Michael had been seeing and sensing his qi projection in a video clip: http://qigongamerica.blogspot.com.au/ This prompted me to order his Gift of the Tao qigong DVDs, which I used to teach myself the movements. The DVDs and the video clip whetted my appetite to explore the Gift of the Tao system first-hand from Michael.

 

There were over 20 attendees at the workshops. I wasn't the only international student there -- two attendees travelled from the UK and Brazil. The other attendees came from all over the USA.

 

My first -- and lasting -- impression of the workshops was of the enthusiasm and friendliness of the teacher and students.

 

I've been to numerous meditation and qigong workshops, but have never encountered such a welcoming community of people. I found myself quickly connecting with several of my fellow attendees, sharing stories of our spiritual journeys and the power of qigong, and sharing insight into how to perform the movements. The community spirit was fostered by a workshop dinner. After travelling such a distance and being so far from home, the community spirit meant a great deal to me.

 

Michael was a very personable teacher. I was hugely impressed by him greeting each of the attendees individually at the start of the workshop. There was no Guru-complex going on. This impression was reinforced by Michael getting his senior students to lead the workshop teaching of the three Gift of the Tao movement sets. Michael created a qi-field during the workshops, and this was responsible for the many breakthroughs that I and other attendees experienced.

 

During the workshop, we practised the Gift of the Tao 1 and 2. We also learnt the Gift of the Tao 3, a set of movements that has been revealed to Michael more recently. The power of all three movement systems has to be experienced to be believed -- they induce strong qi sensations within, alter the environmental qi and hugely elevate your awareness. Having practised a handful of qigong systems over 18 years, the Gift of the Tao system has induced in me the most profound experiences of any system I have tried.

 

The teaching at the workshop was of a very high level. The senior students brought their own insights into how to perform the movements, and we had ample opportunity to practise each movement and to ask questions and seek clarification from the teachers. During the workshop, I was rather dizzy with the amount of information being imparted, but found that my understanding of the energetics of each movement enhanced incredibly. On my return home, I learnt the Gift of the Tao 1 and 2 movements thoroughly in three days flat. Nothing taught at the workshops went to waste it seems

 

Perhaps the highlight of the workshops for me was the "lighting the fire". This involved Michael projecting qi so as to unlock the attendees' ability to undertake high level qigong. As a result of Michael's qi projection, I experienced much spontaneous body movement and had several visions, such as seeing the heavens and earth open up.

 

I also attended the optional clinical application workshop. This workshop involved Michael and senior students teaching qi healing techniques. All attendees were then able to practise the techniques on each other to heal various ailments. The techniques are very simple yet profound. As a result of practising the Gift of the Tao movements and Stillness Movement, you quickly develop the ability to amass and manipulate qi. Pretty much all attendees were able to achieve an 80 - 100% healing rate. The potential implications for our healthcare system of these techniques is mind blowing.

 

In closing, I am so glad that I attended the workshops. After arriving in Springfield on a wet cold winter's day and fatigued and bothered after much flying, I had nagging doubts about the wisdom of attending the workshop. Repeatedly I asked myself "what the hell am I doing here! Why am I spending this time and money coming all this way when I'm unemployed and should be looking for a job!" I am glad to say that these nagging doubts quickly left me -- the workshops were profound and life enhancing for me.

 

So there is no doubt in my mind that if you have the chance, do attend one of Michael's workshops.

It was a pleasure having you at the workshop. If the majority of the Australian people are as cultivated and nice as you I would be extremely tempted to move there! Thanks for showing such commitment to ride a flying sardine can for 19 or so hours. I really do know what it takes to plan and commit to going to other countries for workshops/study and do realize the sacrifice one must make to do so.

You will do extremely well with these practices; thanks for the review.

[altiora]

Friend of mine who attended the workshops, but who is not a TaoBum, wrote this nice review for the workshop. Might be of interest to the TaoBums who wanted more information on what was covered during the workshop.

 

**********

 

I'd been hearing about Michael Lomax and qigong for a few years from a friend, and I finally decided to attend a workshop in person in December 2014 in Springfield, Missouri. I did have some exposure to Gift of the Tao, but prior to attending the workshop in person it was only a series of moves to me. I only understood them at the surface level. At the workshop this completely changed.

From the minute Michael walked into the room on the first day I felt a sense calm and relaxation - as if everything buzzing and nagging me in my head suddenly stopped and I was left with quiet. I felt Michael's energetic presence immediately. Coming from a major city filled with lots of noise and a faster pace of life this was huge for me! The pace of the workshop was perfect. Each move from Gift of the Tao 1 and 2 were taught and refined, with other long-time workshop attendees offering helpful tips and queues along the way. I learned a lot from just watching others perform the movements, and I felt that this helped my practice quite a bit. All questions were addressed without judgement. Gift of the Tao 3 was also taught, though it seems like it's still a work in progress so I'm eager to attend another workshop to see how it's morphed as I did enjoy its movements.

The seated and standing stillness movement portions of the workshop were pretty much mind-blowing. I don't know how else to describe it with words. I was concerned at first that sitting on the floor for an entire hour would be a challenge, but before I knew it an hour was over and I felt like it had hardly began. I saw a few visions of birds as well which was a pleasant surprise, and my entire body felt very light and floaty and, well, high. I loved hearing the chanting as well as Michael projected qi at me and the class during the meditations. I could go on and on with how amazing this was.

The entire weekend I was immensely touched at the kindness, compassion, and sincerity of the attendees at this workshop. I felt like I was finally surrounded by people that were as sensitive to energy as I am, and this is still so powerful to me that I'm actually getting a bit teary thinking about it. My entire life I have always felt like an outsider because I am so sensitive to people and energy, so this is pretty much a revelation for me. I found this particularly so on the third day of the workshop where we learned qi projection and taoist medicine. I felt at first like I wouldn't be able to do either, and was seriously doubting my newly acquired abilities to project qi. With the encouragement of others at the workshop I successfully projected qi for the first time and had 100% healing results, much to my surprise and amazement.

After the workshop I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up my practice at the level that I learned from Michael, but I'm happy to say that this is not the case. The sense of physical relaxation and calmness has continued to stay with me, and this has encouraged me to keep up my practice. Who knows what amazing things await...

I would highly encourage anyone who is considering attending one of these workshop to sign up immediately - I can't wait for the next one!

[Ya Mu]

 

Friend of mine who attended the workshops, but who is not a TaoBum, wrote this nice review for the workshop. Might be of interest to the TaoBums who wanted more information on what was covered during the workshop.

 

**********

 

I'd been hearing about Michael Lomax and qigong for a few years from a friend, and I finally decided to attend a workshop in person in December 2014 in Springfield, Missouri. I did have some exposure to Gift of the Tao, but prior to attending the workshop in person it was only a series of moves to me. I only understood them at the surface level. At the workshop this completely changed.

From the minute Michael walked into the room on the first day I felt a sense calm and relaxation - as if everything buzzing and nagging me in my head suddenly stopped and I was left with quiet. I felt Michael's energetic presence immediately. Coming from a major city filled with lots of noise and a faster pace of life this was huge for me! The pace of the workshop was perfect. Each move from Gift of the Tao 1 and 2 were taught and refined, with other long-time workshop attendees offering helpful tips and queues along the way. I learned a lot from just watching others perform the movements, and I felt that this helped my practice quite a bit. All questions were addressed without judgement. Gift of the Tao 3 was also taught, though it seems like it's still a work in progress so I'm eager to attend another workshop to see how it's morphed as I did enjoy its movements.

The seated and standing stillness movement portions of the workshop were pretty much mind-blowing. I don't know how else to describe it with words. I was concerned at first that sitting on the floor for an entire hour would be a challenge, but before I knew it an hour was over and I felt like it had hardly began. I saw a few visions of birds as well which was a pleasant surprise, and my entire body felt very light and floaty and, well, high. I loved hearing the chanting as well as Michael projected qi at me and the class during the meditations. I could go on and on with how amazing this was.

The entire weekend I was immensely touched at the kindness, compassion, and sincerity of the attendees at this workshop. I felt like I was finally surrounded by people that were as sensitive to energy as I am, and this is still so powerful to me that I'm actually getting a bit teary thinking about it. My entire life I have always felt like an outsider because I am so sensitive to people and energy, so this is pretty much a revelation for me. I found this particularly so on the third day of the workshop where we learned qi projection and taoist medicine. I felt at first like I wouldn't be able to do either, and was seriously doubting my newly acquired abilities to project qi. With the encouragement of others at the workshop I successfully projected qi for the first time and had 100% healing results, much to my surprise and amazement.

After the workshop I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up my practice at the level that I learned from Michael, but I'm happy to say that this is not the case. The sense of physical relaxation and calmness has continued to stay with me, and this has encouraged me to keep up my practice. Who knows what amazing things await...

I would highly encourage anyone who is considering attending one of these workshop to sign up immediately - I can't wait for the next one!

Thanks for posting for your friend. This is neat because it shows just how much it can mean to someone to find the "coming home" part of our practice. This student, a beginner, has IMO already progressed further than the average 10 year qigong practitioner and will go far with this practice. I was watching this student the instant they felt the shift of energetics and obtained comprehension of what the Gift of the Tao really are instead of them being just a "set of movements" .