HEAVEN & EARTH HEALING QIGONG
january 11-12, March 20-30 & May 31-june 1, 2025
yucaipa, california
New & Existing Students Welcome
Overview
The Marriage of Heaven and Earth is a deep and content-rich form of qigong that is ideal for beginning and more advanced practitioners alike.
New students will find this symmetrical form easy to learn, so that you can quickly sink into internal (neigong) techniques that generate the health and healing benefits associated with qigong and tai chi practice.
Existing students will find the depth and breadth of neigong offered in Heaven and Earth a go-to form for developing and refining various aspects of internal arts practice.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
In this three-part seminar series, you will receive step-by-step instructions and guidance from me on:
The physical mechanics of the two-part Heaven and Earth exercise with refinements added in each progressive weekend seminar according to your level of skill.
Essential neigong (i.e. internal power-development techniques) that bring alive your form and make it a truly internal art.
Although beginners are welcome each weekend and each seminar will be complete unto itself, the culmination of the three weekends together will create a synergy that can only be experienced by attending the series.
Note: In-person courses are not recorded or live streamed as instruction is adjusted to meet the needs of those present, including hands-on corrections not relevant to the greater student base.
Complementary resources
Learn more about Heaven and Earth Qigong:
See a video demonstration
See my book, which I authored with my teacher Taoist Master Bruce Frantzis — Heaven & Earth Qigong: Heal Your Body & Awaken Your Qi
Online course — from my archives for those who want to prepare for the seminars (not required).
Seminar 1: Open Your Body & Release Tension
January 11-12, 2025
In the first seminar, I’ll guide you through the specifics of how the Heaven and Earth exercise is practiced to ignite many layers of internal (neigong) content. A sloppy form yields little benefit, so existing practitioners will also receive instruction on refinements to make their form a more effective container for neigong.
Once the formwork is in place, we’ll begin our journey into the internal realm with a focus on:
The kwa — the engine of internal arts training.
Bend-and-stretch neigong — a relaxation-based method of movement to counter the ill effects of reciprocal inhibition, a tension-based method of movement.
Activating the kwa with bending and stretching allows you to open up your body’s soft tissues (fascia, muscles, tendons and ligaments), dredge up many layers of long-term, accumulated tension and expel it from your body.
Engaging the kwa, along with bend-and-stretch techniques, sets the stage for more subtle, yin neigong, such as pulsing, to subsequently take root and deepen your practice. These are the prerequisites to generating a truly internal practice, developing mind-body trust and igniting the body’s natural healing capacities.
Practicing Heaven and Earth Qigong at this level can:
Release various aches and pains.
Make your body much more comfortable to inhabit.
Generate vibrancy in body, mind and qi.
This is due to the fact that this ancient, 3000-year-old practice is so well designed that even when you train it poorly, you get some positive result. But this does not speak to what can be achieved when you practice it well. Neigong training is all about depth and quality. In this seminar, we will work with both. For this reason, I’ll also present other aspects of neigong training as appropriate for those in attendance.
Register with payment below to reserve your place.
Seminar 2: Opening and Closing the Joints of the Body
March 29-30, 2025
In the second seminar, I’ll offer a brief review of the two-part Heaven and Earth form before moving into one of the most powerful yin methods for moving blood and energy (aka qi) in the body: opening-and-closing neigong (aka pulsing).
Everything in the manifest realm in which we live is governed by duality — the intricate flux between yin and yang, or opposites, e.g. day and night, hot and cold, and male and female. Taoists consider studying these natural phenomena and rhythmic cycles to be of great importance, as they can lead you to the place from where they all derive: the source of the cosmos.
Taoism always begins with the physical body and works inwards, towards ever-more subtle layers of energy. Open-and-close neigong opens you up to the energies inside of you, as one of the fundamental rhythms of all life forms. Pulsing is one of the critical aspects of internal arts training and relies on bend-and-stretch techniques (taught in the first seminar) as a springboard to dive deeper into balancing your body, energy and mind.
Pulsing the joints
Pulsing is a specialty of Heaven and Earth Qigong — in fact, one of its names is Kai Hur Gong or “Open and Close Practice/Skill.” Pulsing techniques start by targeting the joints of the body to release deeper layers of tension that have not been able to be released through bending and stretching the body’s soft tissues (fascia, muscles, tendons and ligaments). Pulsing the joints also activates the synovial fluid system of the body and dramatically raises the quantity of energy available to the practitioner.
Smooth and integrated pulsing:
Increases blood and qi flow.
Softens the body.
Aids in healing the soft tissues and joints, e.g. from arthritis, carpel tunnel and ligamental injuries to name a few.
Releases and opens up the whole skeletal frame, which is required to fully access the internal organs.
Learning how to pulse well can also aid in healing more serious issues to do with digestion and the internal organs, especially the heart and liver.
Note: This weekend seminar will be complete unto itself, but I highly recommend new students or people with health issues attend the first seminar in order to get the most out of this deep, internal teaching.
Register with payment below to reserve your place.
Seminar 3: Taoist Breathing & Energetics
May 31-June 1, 2025
In the third seminar, we will build on the foundation created in the first two seminars by focusing on two primary threads of neigong training:
Taoist natural breathing.
The macrocosmic and microcosmic orbits of energy.
From one perspective, breathing is just another aspect of opening and closing, which is one reason why, in the Water Method, it is traditionally learned within Heaven and Earth Qigong. Taoist natural breathing mimics that of a newborn baby, the most perfect of creatures, before being influenced by cultural and other forms of conditioning.
Learning how to breathe well is one of the most important aspects of being healthy and maintaining that health well into old age by:
Relaxing the nervous system.
Gently massaging the vital organs through referred pressures.
Increasing circulation of blood and qi.
Over time, upgrading the functioning and efficiency of every system and cell of your body — where there is oxygen, there is life!
macrocosmic and microcosmic orbits of energy
The macrocosmic and microcosmic orbits are natural qi flows within your body that keep you healthy, vibrant and alert. Opening up and strengthening these qi flows is revitalizing and, over time, can create incredible resilience and strength in the physical and energy bodies, the first two bodies (of the Eight Energy Bodies system used by Taoists).
Both breathing and the macrocosmic and microcosmic orbits play key roles in Taoist rejuvenation practices based on Chinese medicine, because:
Qi tells the physical body how to function — and not the other way around!
When you become ill, injured or compromised from trauma (physically, emotionally or mentally) — especially as you age — qi flow becomes restricted, which in turn reduces the efficiency of the body’s systems. When you release these tensions and stored traumas, the body’s qi flows and vital processes can be restored, returning you to a natural, alive and awake state.
Note: This weekend seminar will be complete unto itself, but I highly recommend new students or people with health issues attend the first two seminars in order to get the most out of this deep, internal teaching. There is no shortcut to the synergy that results from a progressive and systematic approach to neigong training, especially when working with more advanced techniques.
Qigong & Tai Chi Instructors/Prospective Instructors
TTCS teachers, teacher-trainees and prospective teachers will receive 9 hours training credit for each weekend seminar (27 hours total for the series) towards prerequisite in-person training hours.
For more info, or if you would like to join my TTCS teacher mentorship programme, see:
REGISTRATION
Schedule
Saturday-Sunday:
January 11-12, 2025
March 29-30, 2025
May 31-June 1, 2025
Registration
Saturday at 10:30 am
Class
Saturday, 10:45 am-4:45 pm
Sunday, 10:30 am-4:30 pm
(90-minute lunch)
9 hours training per weekend
Location
YUCAIPA COMMUNITY CENTER
34900 Oak Glen Road
Yucaipa, CA 92399
Visiting for the first time?
See our venue & travel guide
Post offers/requests to share accommodation/rides via the link above
LUNCH
90 minutes
Mexican food can be delivered at lunchtime:
See details and a listing of local restaurants
Course Fees
$300 per weekend
$800 three-course series, if paid by January 11, 2025
Pay by card/Apple Pay using the button below or via bank transfer; please send us an email with your name and email for payments via bank, and we’ll confirm your place with a paid invoice within three business days.
We encourage you to register ahead to reserve your place. Cash and card payments will be accepted at the door, if places are available.
RESERVE YOUR PLACE
Register for one or more seminars with payment to reserve your place:
Check your spam folder if you do not immediately receive a payment receipt via email.
Please add qi@paulcavel.com to your contacts to ensure timely delivery of messages.