The Inner Drummer Movement Qigong Umbrella

  • Many, if not most, folks draw a blank when they read “Qigong” (pronounced chee-guhng).

    “Qi” or “Chi” or “Ki” or “Prana” are all synonyms describing vital energy, breath, spirit, or intention. “Gong” means cultivation or mastery. Qi is the same as “the Force” in Star Wars. In fact everything portrayed as the Force and Jedi culture is adapted from various forms of Qigong practice.

    Qigong encompasses a sizable umbrella of practices that help enhance wellness, movement, our ability to heal and learn, and when practiced with others to relate, connect, and co-create. Qigong is effective in lots of tangible ways. You can enhance your awareness of your body and better sense and take action in the world around you. With enough practice you can notice small and not so small distinctions in your body that set up the choice to take different actions in your body than the unconscious patterns that you’ve been defaulting to.

    Some examples of what’s in the scope of Qigong include Tai chi, moving meditation, yoga, many if not all martial arts, and conscious dance practices.

    I like testing new movements and see through direct experience what I discover. In everything I offer under my Qigong umbrella it’s my hope you will similarly test everything for yourself and see what you discover!

  • Qigong is best practiced with an inner sense of openness, play, and expansiveness! These aren’t rules to be externally imposed, rather they’re principles to apply and test for yourself. I’m confident you will, whether today or years from now, conclude these principles lead to greater joy and fulfillment.

All Tai Chi Flow classes are designed to shift people into a natural flow state (what top athletes call “the zone”). The invitation is essentially to join a game of slow paced follow the leader — there’s nothing you need to know in advance and nothing you need to memorize as you participate— in fact Rob doesn’t mind if you go right when he goes left.

Tai Chi Flow classes optimize your natural healing and learning capacities and put you in a moving meditation state. These tai chi movements (and in some cases yoga movements) are also “moving medication”! They have a natural analgesic and anti-inflammatory effect which can reduce or eliminate the need for over the counter or prescribed medications.

About the photo inside the above image: I love that Harvard Researchers took the time to document these benefits and present them in the Harvard Medical School’s Guide to Tai Chi ! And I love how much better it feels to practice the movement than to sit idly reading no matter how fascinating the data may be!

A Flow Practice supports you in letting go of habits and patterns that block you from moving in the most authentic, natural, and empowering ways possible. This makes improvements in balance, coordination, and flexibility possible regardless of age.

Moving meditation can be practiced at any time. This is something you will find happening when you commit to regular flow class attendance because the more you put your mind on moving your qi the more you will see the positive benefits of regular practice naturally showing up in your life outside of class.

One on One Embodiment Coaching: Goes deeper so you can build the skills you need to win over early childhood trauma!

What you can expect: These one-on-one sessions introduce new skills that slowly change your capacity to feel powerful in the face of that which previously felt overwhelming. The focus will be on (in bite-sized increments) connecting more consciously with what you are doing in your body (even though you may never have thought about it this way before) and invite you to test new choices and take new actions.

You may never have thought about this before but your emotions all show up as physical actions in your body. Think about a food you love to eat. Imagine the taste, the smell, and how it feels in your mouth. What happened in your body? Now think about being asked to smell that same food after it’s been locked in the trunk of your car for 2 months— I’m guessing different actions happened in your body— did you notice them?

Ask Rob more about this if you feel ready to learn new skills that increase your ability to feel inwardly resourceful. It’s not about what happened, but about discovering and practicing in small increments (and with your full consent at each step) new actions you can do in your body until you realize you’ve triumphed over that which once overwhelmed you.