The Hestercombe Chi Gung Group

At The Memorial Hall, Cheddon Fitzpaine, Taunton, Somerset TA2 8JY

8 January - 12 February (6 weeks)
12 March - 16 April (6 weeks)
14 May to 18 June (6 weeks)

We are interested in recruiting more members to the group. There are usually opportunities for newcomers in January and September. We invite you to apply by writing to express your interest to contact@bigger-picture.net.

Beginners Class
Wednesday mornings 10 - 11am

The foundation of practice in chigung and also taichi depends on grounding, opening and closing your 'energy gates' and on certain principles that constitute the 'energy architecture' of the body. Beginners classes introduce you to these 'essential elements'. The first set of exercises you learn in these classes is called Shibashi, which means 'eighteen movements'. This form is suitable for anyone to learn, including the active over 60s. It brings health and mobility benefits relatively quickly and easily. To learn the form with a basic degree of proficiency usually takes ten to twelve classes. Sometimes we do day training courses in Shibashi to accelerate your progress. Then we move on to other chigung exercises to add more precision and flow to your practice. After about nine months to a year most students can perceive the chi circulating in their bodies. Increasingly they experience both the energising and relaxing effect of chigung.

Cost: £48 for the six classes from 8 January to 12 February. Newcomers receive an 80 minute introductory audio programme to stream at their leisure.

More About Chi Gung with Clive Tempest.
Read what people say about practising chigung with Clive here.

Advanced Class
Wednesday mornings 11.15am-12.30pm

These classes are for those who already practise several chigung sets. After developing more fluency and flow in the practice, and with more ease in the exercise, our connection to chi is established. So now we can become more aware of the ways in which chi stimulates and enlivens us. A means of integrating this knowledge is through the use of Five Element Theory. Chi is indeed 'elemental' but it's not immediately obvious to us that the different qualities of chi support us in different ways. Classes in the autumn of 2024 were an introduction to the five ways that chi works in nature and in our bodies. What follows is an investigation of the interaction of these five processes. We discover just how elemental they are.

Cost: £48 for the six classes from 8 January to 12 February.

Practising Presence

At a private venue
Sundays 26 January, 23 February and 30 March
Afternoons 2.30-5.30pm

These sitting sessions stimulate awareness and enhance perception. The purpose is to know your own presence in a space shared with others. There are internal energy exercises and periods of sitting in silence during the first half of the afternoon. After a teabreak Clive talks about the value of knowing your own presence and the benefits of living a more conscious life. As this is continuing work with a group experienced in the practice, these sessions are now by invitation only. Places are limited. If you're interested in joining the group, let Clive know.

Spring Retreat

Practising Presence
At The Manor House, Norton Park, near Winchester, UK
28 April - 2 May

This will be a week in the splendid Manor House surrounded by the lovely grounds of the Norton Park Hotel. We will rest and dwell in our own presence and practise conscious living. There will be simple chigung and meditative exercises to raise the energy necessary to bring in the new. Chi is the energy of presence and therefore always fresh and new. The residue of past experience reduces. The anxious anticipation of the future fades away. It is in your presence that you find your purpose. It's in your purpose that you find your love. Or you could equally say that you find love in presence and purpose in love.

Norton Park is a four-star conference and spa hotel, set in many acres of parkland. It's just off the M3/A303, an hour from Heathrow and a few miles away from the ancient city of Winchester.

Cost per person: £925 discounted to £825 when a couple share a double room. This includes the course fee and all accomodation and meal costs from Monday afternoon until after lunch on Friday, plus the use of all hotel facilities including the spa, gym, sauna and swimming pool. Book with a non-refundable deposit of £150 pp. The balance becomes due before 15 March. All details and the booking form are here.

Future Events

After June other events and classes will be arranged including an Autumn Retreat and possibly a summer workshop.

Enquiries:contact@bigger-picture.net

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