Affordable Extended Qigong Retreats

[haveaniceday]

Hello. Is this the right subforum?

 

Friends, I'm looking for a place where I can go balls deep into qigong and or bagua. I'm thinking anywhere from a month to half a year. I'm not rich, but I have a little money saved up. I'm ready to travel anywhere in the world for good instruction in a conducive location. I'm currently trying to learn Mandarin, but I'm green as a spring onion so I'm looking for a place where I can not only get by with English, but be well teachable. Note this is only really important when it comes to communicating with the instructors and figuring out how to get to and from the location. I don't need luxurious accomodation, I'm not a picky eater although I hope for nutrition.

 

I'm primarily interested in vitality AND enlightenment.

 

Those of you who know what's what, where is the place to go? Are there places that hold a "charge" that are particularly conducive to accelerated practice?

 

Thank you, and good day.

[Spotless]

Hi haveaniceday!

 

Great name!

 

This is not a direct answer to your question but I thought it might create some guidance particularly since you mentioned an interest in this for vitality AND enlightenment.

 

Recently I was walking along the marina here and noticed a young woman doing Yoga asanas. Several days later she was there and was also clearly studying some books and i struck up a conversation with her. She was very excited about her "Yoga" studies and told me that she was studying up prior to going to Sweden for a full course and certificate. I was excited for her as well and asked what type of meditation she did - her reply was "i don't meditate - i haven't done any inner work at all but intend to at some point".

 

I am pretty certain she has no idea that she is not studying Yoga nor that she is not becoming a certified teacher in anything that could be considered Yoga as in the great and Ancient traditions from India.

 

If you wish to dive deep into Qi Gong ( I cannot speak for Bagua ) and you are not yet well practiced in it - then you may wish to study Acupuncture and understand many of the systems that will be referred to in the various Qi Gong practices. Also - most all excellent acupuncture schools have a Qi Gong teacher fully involved in the school. The teachers may or may not be the best but in the beginning (first several years) good basics are really all that are needed. Many of the fine points have been lost to teachings long ago and you will need to search for them a bit just as most "Yoga" in the West is not "Yoga" - and most Qi Gong in Asia is not Qi Gong either for that matter - certainly not in the sense that you have expressed interest - in all it is almost entirely driven on two levels everywhere - healing and longevity/exercise - an infinitesimally small portion of Qi Gong by comparison to the second half of your expressed interest.

 

Few teachers of Qi Gong teach what a posture is doing or related to from the standpoint of understanding it from the inside out. They generally have a partial understanding of the energy and then relate what they know from what they were told and in relation to channels they may or may not actually feel or see in any substantial way. Very few can see a Qi Gong students progress outside of interpersonal relations in class and from questions and physical viewing of the persons practice - and certificates they have received from 6 week intensives. Most are unaware of Qi Gong as an Awakening Practice and Way - quite a few in China joke about it Or sell to it and the notoriety of big personal energy - but have little background and understanding of Awakening other than the general notions touted everywhere.

 

(You may also wish to post where you are from at the present time.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 6, 2018 by Spotless

[haveaniceday]

I'm from Norway : )

 

I've been meditating for a few years now, mostly vipassana, but some shamatha too - from time to time I'll also experiment a bit. That's really what draws me to qigong as well; Firstly, although I do have extended periods with high volume of practice, I also have periods of low energy where I end up slacking off a bit. Some vitality would do me good. Also, at some point I started noticing I had these blobs of whatever, blocked energy or chronic muscular contractions - a little of both, probably - pretty much all over. So far my best strategy has just been keeping my awareness on a particular area until it loosens up, and although it works, it is really fucking slow. I do some standing exercise not quite every day, but near enough - from what I read here on the forum it might not be all too effective without quality instruction?

 

From my limited experience it seems to me that theory is generally good to learn after a bit of practice, both in terms of motivation and understanding. I remember reading buddhist texts that seemed like gobbledegook only to return to it a year later and it suddenly makes sense.

 

My assumption is that the right environment and/or teacher, in addition to going to some form of healer be it acupuncturist or massage or what have you, might result in a better launching point for immersing oneself in qigong, but I defer. Please advise.

[Fa Xin]

Have you tried learning some simple Qigong to start with? Maybe some 8 Brocades or shibasi? It’s pretty easy to get started with simple Qigong from videos. 

 

Not saying a qigong vacation or extended trip wouldn’t be valuable... but thanks to technology and communication, you may get some solid foundation at home, if your motivated and determined enough.

 

Then you can understand a bit about the different styles of Qigong and get a feel for different masters/teachers - which will narrow your search criteria for potential trips and deeper study. 

 

 

 

Edited September 7, 2018 by Fa Xin

[Fa Xin]

Off on a tangent.... Not to mention the knowledge flung around this forum - some of it is extremely high level ... we are quite lucky to have such people in our midsts... I’m always learning when I read through the posts. 

[haveaniceday]

Eh I do some exercises here and there, don't know what they're called but mostly just gathering and a little bit of raising and lowering. But I do have some qigong dvds, I've got something called yuan gong and Alan Jackson's chikung workout, couple of yantra yoga dvds. Guess I've got my work cut out for me.

 

I'd really appreciate some retreat suggestions, though.

[Gerard]

On 07/09/2018 at 3:04 AM, haveaniceday said:

Are there places that hold a "charge" that are particularly conducive to accelerated practice?

 

A Vipassana retreat in Thailand or Burma is what you need. Accelerated practice depends entirely on you. Some people walk out after 2 days because they can't handle meditating the whole day for many days, others become renunciates because they attain a new degree of awakening. These are free, but a donation is expected since food and accomodation is provided entirely as well as the teacher that will look after you.

 

Bagua is an entirely different story. For this you need one very experienced teacher and stay under his wing for at least 4 years if you are fully dedicated to the art and a very dedicated and 'fast' learner, the journey is that of a lifetime (same as Buddhist Vipassana). In Asia He Jinghan would be my personal choice. He is based in Taipei-Taiwan (YT Channel).

 

Good luck.

Edited September 11, 2018 by Gerard

[Fa Xin]

13 hours ago, haveaniceday said:

 

I'd really appreciate some retreat suggestions, though.

 

The Gompa in Texas, to study with John Painter. They have a bed and breakfast program, and offer teaching in Bagua, Qigong, tai chi...

 

edit: never mind, you said a month to half a year... though you could start off with a week and get more than enough material to practice for years

Edited September 11, 2018 by Fa Xin