The Walt Whitman Birthplace Association presents:
QiGong and Poetry in Synchrony
Join WWBA in celebrating a natural blending of East and West. Learn the ancient fitness system of QiGong and share your poetry too. QiGong is an ancient meditative exercise from the East long known for enhancing wellness, clarity, sensitivity, immune strength, stamina, and balance, adding life to all your activities - including your creative mind! You are welcome to read one poem per class for all to enjoy.
Walt Whitman Birthplace Association celebrates a natural blending of East and West.
Walt Whitman cultivated his spirit and his thoughts as he traveled the countryside and transformed his observations and wonders to the pen. Those in the East who, for millennia, have cultivated their spirit, their wellness, and their thoughts by practicing QiGong and T’ai Qi found that their practices sensitized them to their surroundings and brought clarity to their artistic expressions, whether poetry or painting, ceremony or calligraphy. Many were wandering monastics or medical doctors or martial artists. Traditionally, the movements were taken from forms and relationships throughout nature, simply from the wonders that surround us, and given names reflecting this.
WWBA and QIGONG hope to inspire your reading and creative writing.
In our time together, we’ll devote 15-20 minutes to personal readings of your own poetry or prose. You may want to start with a piece in progress, and see how it unfolds over the weeks ahead. Or, feel free to be inspired by expanding on a line from one poem in the Book Selections. Or, be moved to express your QiGong experiences as your practice travels on through the weeks ahead.
PARTICULARS
CALENDAR: Fridays 2 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. from May 16th through August 22nd
FEES: $15.00 per class, though recommended to learn in a continuous “series” form (see below)
series of 5 classes: $75
series of 10 classes: $130 (discounted $20)
series of 15 classes: $195 (discounted $30)
MATERIALS NEEDED: Comfortable dress, such as in sweatpants and tee shirts. Shoes or T’ai Qi slippers are recommended. Chairs are available during class. Weather permitting: held outdoors.
INSTRUCTOR: Leslie M. Celadhan, writer, LMT, Cert. Amma Therapist, Feng Shui Advisor, Bach Flower Practitioner, a professor of bodywork and natural lifestyle at the NY College of Health Professions for 18 years. Leslie practices Taoist QiGong under guidance from Peter Yates, L.Ac., Kung Fu Sifu, & Sifu Share K. Lew, a Taoist priest with 80 years experience in the Taoist Arts of healing, martial arts, & energy cultivation from China’s Wong Lung Kwan Monastery, Luo Fo Mtn.
PLEASE RSVP YOUR ATTENDANCE BY CONTACTING:
631-427-5240, or online: www.waltwhitman.org or wwbamedia@optonline.net
Checks payable to WWBA. Mastercard, Visa, and American Express accepted.
Walt Whitman Birthplace Museum, 246 Old Walt Whitman Road, West Hills, NY 11746-4148
MORE ABOUT OUR QIGONG CLASS
In this series of 15 classes, sequences of movements are learned that can be practiced easily and efficiently at any time of the day, and by any age group. It is wonderful for the aged as well as for the young, and is used by the infirm to improve healing and by the healthy as preventive care. Wheelchair participants are welcome, or if demand allows, we may create a separate class.
The forms offered are simple compilations of movements. Each class begins with warm-up exercises. Harmonizing the Five Elements is easy to memorize in three to five sessions. T’aiJi QiGong is a set of 18 movements particularly helpful for improving flexibility, breathing, coordination, and strength. Zhan Zhuang, which translates into ‘Standing Like a Tree’, is the foundation practice of posture and breathing. Each of these exercise forms is taught and practiced in each class, with enough time given for questions and review.
