King's Touch Reiki

 I've been intrigued to see the recent interest in Tai Chi walking, and signed up for a quick introduction.  A decade into my own Tai chi practice, I lived and worked at Breitenbush Retreat and Conference Center, offering massage and Reiki sessions, plus drop-in Tai chi/ Qigong twice weekly for our Daily Well being program for guests and staff.  It was a delight to attune to each group and day, and watch folks who had a practice suddenly experience the flow in a way they hadn't!! I'd encourage them to keep practicing , and return to their class at home with that new awareness. In 1994, I was fortunate to take one of our weekend workshops with a qigong master from China, and hear (trough translation) him say many of the things I'd been guided to tell my students!  We practiced qi walking in small groups around a tree, and did several practices to bring more light and energy to our dan tien (called hara in yoga) Our teacher enjoined us to "swallow your saliva!" ...

   Some of my joys when I lived and worked at Breitenbush Hot Springs were going to sleep to the song of the river, being fed lovely organic meals, and walking everywhere!  My daily commute was across the footbridge, to the 30s style wooden cabin where we offered massage, Reiki, and a mineral water soak and wrap.   Prayer flags in the woods Then options included heading to the dining hall for meals, to the sauna or one of the mineral pools for a steam or soak, to the Sanctuary for a daily well being session, to the lodge for a visit, or the trails for a hike - all of these accessed on foot! I got good boots, rain hat and warm coat - and I was set! (With geothermal lines under the paths,  those melted first when we had snow.  That first winter, our Events Coordinator asked another practioner and me to offer Tai Chi as well-being classes for our holiday guests. I came to his session for ideas, as I'd not taught yet, and was used to doing a complete form ...

  My massage mentor had polio in the 40s, and recommended we take Tai Chi in '83 to support the bodywork! My own mum had polio in 1921, and needed to use crutches for balance - she encouraged me to be a active as possible.  I studied Yang long form Tai Chi with Maria Wen Yen Liu in Salem, who began each class with a series of Qigong warm up exercises. Maria learned from her father in China, beginning at 3 years old!  I had begun taking Russian ballet 5 years before, with Lynn Marchant , a world class teacher from the Bay area, who had also studied Tai Chi. I continuedwith both ballet and Tai Chi, till I moved to Breitenbush Hot Springs in '91.  At Breitenbush, I began teaching a drop in Qi class for staff and guests 2x a week, as part of our Daily Well Being offerings, and took workshops as I could. One on 1994, with a Qigong teacher that Heiner F. brought from China, included eating stars (!) and a Tiger form, plus exchanging Qi with trees ...  I took Reiki ...