ANNUAL CONFERENCE - ONLINE EVENT

September 17 - 19, 2021

CONTACT CONFERENCE COMMITTEE CHAIR 

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: PETER DEADMAN

Keynote title: Just What is Qigong?

Qigong draws from many different traditions and comes in many different styles so it can be useful to consider what these different traditions can - or even should - have in common. I would say there are two principles that can guide us - the equal cultivation of jing-qi-shen (in this context body-breath-mind) and the all-encompassing dynamic of yinyang. In this presentation I will be looking at the ancient and modern history of qigong and its predecessors, tease out what body-breath-mind mean in practice, and look at how we can integrate yinyang into our practice.

Bio:  Peter Deadman has worked in the field of health promotion for fifty years. He first co-founded a pioneering natural and organic foods restaurant, shop, bakery and distribution warehouse in 1971. He qualified as an acupuncturist in 1978 and several years later in Chinese herbal medicine. He is founder of The Journal of Chinese Medicine, co-author of A Manual of Acupuncture, and author of Live Well Live Long: Teachings from the Chinese Nourishment of Life Tradition. He has lectured on Chinese medicine and yangsheng (nourishment of life teachings) all over the world. He is a dedicated practitioner of qigong and has taught classes and workshops for many years.

ENRICHMENT and CONFERENCE MC: SOLALA TOWLER

Bio:  Solala Towler has taught and practiced Taoist meditation and qigong for over twenty-five years. He is author of twelve books on Taoism including Tales from the Tao, The Tao of Intimacy and Ecstasy, Practicing the Tao te Ching, Chuang Tzu: The Inner chapters, and Cha Dao: The Way of Tea. He is the editor and publisher of The Empty Vessel. The Empty Vessel is dedicated to the exploration and dissemination of Daoist philosophy and practice, including qigong, Chinese medicine, internal alchemy, sexual cultivation, and more. It is open to sharing the various traditional and contemporary teachings in a nondiscriminatory manner in the belief that it is in using these practices and attitudes of the ancient achieved masters in a timely and contemporary manner that we can best benefit from them and in doing so, be able to effect change in the world around us. Towler also teaches qigong and sound healing at conferences and workshops around the United States and leads study trips to China. He is founder of the sacred music ensemble Windhorse and has recorded a number of CDs of meditation/relaxation music which have been used in many qigong DVDs.

2021 CONFERENCE PRESENTERS
(Alphabetically listed by last name)

CHRIS BOUGUYON

Presentation title:  Qigong Begins with Grounding

(50% Didactic / 50% Technique Training in a blended format)

The three foundational components of an effective Qigong practice are Breath, Movement and Intention. Breath invites you into the present moment, movement increases circulation, develops strength and challenges your ability to stay present while intention guides the flow of Qi. None of these are possible without grounding but what does grounding look like? Where does it live within you? How do you deepen your grounding practice? Join Chris for an insightful exploration of grounding energy, gain new tools and perspectives that will enhance your personal Qigong practice.

Bio:  Chris Bouguyon began his journey in martial arts in 1978, then in 1991 his Kung Fu teacher introduced Tai Chi and Qigong as part of Chris’ personal healing journey. A US Navy Veteran who began studying under Oriental Medical Doctors and physical therapists in 1991, and in behavioral health in 2009, Chris' unique training philosophy has culminated into the nationally acclaimed TMQP Workbook and Principle based training series. This training program has delivered incredible results with the most challenging groups; trauma survivors, law enforcement and military. Now, with a Master Certification in Medical Qigong, Chris’ healing path continues to evolve today at the SimplyAware Wellness and Training Center where he shares his wisdom and experience with students and clients therapeutically, in classes, workshops and clinical qigong sessions.

VICKI DELLO JOIO

Presentation title:  Days of Deepening: Embracing Autumn

Nature has a miraculous way of offering guidance to our lives. As leaves drop and sap descends, the days grow shorter and the nights longer, Fall teaches us to shed excess to consolidate energy in preparation for Winter. Autumn is a time of reaping the harvest (whatever you learned during the Summer), and of letting go (perhaps grief and loss of what was). It is a time to transition out of the growth, expression and heart of Summer’s fullness — to a time of drawing inward, breathing deep into your lungs, and embracing your metal — the core essence of who you are (mettle). I see this time of contraction as one of discernment and refinement, consolidating your energy (stamina, resolve, courage) and drawing your attention inward to prepare for the winter.

• In this experiential qigong workshop, you’ll have the chance to:
• Accept your “contraction” as a healthy part of the cycle of growth and the message of the fall season.
• Re-center yourself from any conflicting emotions that feel like they’re overtaking you.
• Get back to your core — what makes you YOU — which feels good and reassuring, even when facing uncertainty.
• Help you move from grief to courage, to get past self-questioning or regret.
• Listen for what is essential and true for you to help you optimize this fall, come what may.

Bio:  Vicki Dello Joio is the author of The Way of Joy and founder of The Way of Joy “Spiritual Fitness” Program. She was inducted into the AWMAI Hall of Fame in 2013, a tribute to her 45+ years of teaching the Qigong and other martial arts. Nicknamed the “Terry Gross of the Qi World,” Vicki is creator and host of the popular monthly National Qigong Association’s podcast Qi Talks, bringing luminaries and “Qi-thought leaders” to an appreciative public since 2013. Vicki served on the NQA Board of Directors from 2009-2016 and is honored to have been a presenter at many NQA conferences since 2002. She has taught workshops and classes across the US and internationally and, in response to the pandemic and Shelter-in-Place, initiated an on-line qigong series Living in the Qi Field, which has reached hundreds of students across the world.

Vicki’s “kitchen-tested” methods have proven effective for thousands of appreciative clients regardless of challenges. A sought-after speaker and producer of sold-out live and virtual events that change lives in a New York Minute, Vicki inspires people across the world with her embodied reminders that joy is a fuel, not a goal — and your secret key to life satisfaction and abiding success.

MICHAEL DeMOLINA

Presentation  Title:  The Energy in your Dreams: Exploring Energetic Archetypes in the DreamTime

The eminent physician and psychologist Carl Jung was deeply influenced by Chinese thought. What might have occurred if he had chosen to pursue the Daoist Arts after he wrote the forward to the classic "Secret of the Golden Flower?" Come explore the place in which Daoist Cosmology and Qigong can be used to reveal the internal world of your unconscious mind, revealed through the dreamtime, and move toward the synergetic field of what I call "Depth Energy Psychology".  

Bio:  Dr. Michael DeMolina PhD is a 30 year therapist, trainer and consultant. He enjoys exploring and teaching methods that blend ancient wisdom with cutting-edge neuroscience. As a Master Trainer of EFT Tapping, Core Transformation and Neuro-Linguistic Programming, he's taught in over 70 cities, from the Mohawk Nation to the Sacred Valley of Peru. Michael is Past Chair of the National Qigong Association (USA) and is the Founder and President of Wisdom Traditions Medical & Counseling Center, an Integrative Healthcare Center in Alaska.   

Michael most enjoys losing himself somewhere in nature; hiking, biking, climbing or simple evening jogs. He has a personal practice of TaiChi & Qigong and revels in opportunities of learning something new. 

FRANCESCO GARRI GARRIPOLI

Presentation Title:  "Qigong as a Personal Transformation Practice"

Qigong is typically seen as a powerful and effective tool for everything from stress management to personal healthcare maintenance… and even as a healing modality. What I present in this class is a focus on Qigong as a practice for personal transformation.  This places Qigong back into its traditional roots when this practice was called “Xiu Lian” or “Dao Yin” and emphasis was more on transforming us from simply “surviving” and into “thriving” on a body, mind, and spirit at the Heart-resonance, Shen Qi level. We will explore this through discussion, specific movements, and breathing exercises.

Bio:  Francesco Garri Garripoli is an internationally recognized Qigong and Meditation instructor, yoga practitioner, musician, brainwave researcher, author, lecturer, Doctor of Divinity, and wellness advocate. Chairman Emeritus and senior advisor to the National Qigong Association and current Chairman of the Qigong Institute, Francesco is featured in a series of award-winning, instructional Qigong DVDs and is the author of ‘Qigong – Essence of the Healing Dance’ and ‘Tao of the Ride’ on his experiences leaving a fully-paid medical school scholarship to live in China, India, Hawaii, and Thailand and study with elder healing Masters since the mid-1970’s. Francesco offers acclaimed Qigong workshops as well as private online sessions and Qigong Instructor Certification programs in the U.S. and Europe and Qigong Study & Healing Retreats around the world. An Emmy Award-winning producer, Francesco’s Qigong documentary aired on PBS-TV with over 88 million viewers and his current videos can be seen on his YouTube Channel Youtube.com/c/FrancescoGarripoli

TOM ROGERS

Presentation Title:  Integrating Qigong into Healthcare, Lecture

The American healthcare industry is in a challenged state because it is an expensive system focused on financing medical intervention for treating symptoms and disease after people are sick and not on safety, cost effectiveness, prevention, and actual health care before people get sick. The pandemic crisis with COVID-19 has exposed the need for personal and public health-care practices to enhance immunity and resilience. The nation has an opportunity to re-imagine health care to fully embrace Qigong. The scientific evidence for Qigong as a biopsychosocial “whole person” health modality is not well known or understood which creates unnecessary barriers to its adoption such as efforts at certification and legislation which are not being informed by science. This talk discusses the active creation of health care with Qigong; milestones in scientific research on Qigong, including protocols used in clinical trials; the equivalence of Tai Chi practiced for health and Qigong when they are practiced as Meditative Movement exercise; recent scientific research on the foundational practices of Qigong and Tai Chi; and challenges to the diffusion of Qigong and Tai Chi. Challenges include embracing a new definition of healthcare; patient education versus treatment; increasing the number of Qigong teachers; clearly defining the different types of Qigong; and changing personal behavior to incorporate Qigong into one’s lifestyle.

Bio:  Rogers has a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Oregon and an M.S. in Computer Science from Stanford University and spent over twenty years in the Silicon Valley computer industry specializing in database systems. His passion for practicing internal arts and many different forms of Qigong, Tai Chi and Yoga spans over 40 years and includes seven trips to China for adventure travel, business, and studying Qigong and Tai Chi with Master Wan Su Jian, Master Duan Zhi Liang, and Master Zhou Jin Bo. In the San Francisco Tom Bay Area, Tom studied Chen style Tai Chi with Master Wong Wai Yi and was certified as a professional Qigong and Tai Chi Teacher by the Institute of Integral Qigong and Tai Chi, where he has also developed curriculum for training future Qigong and Tai Chi professionals. An accomplished rock climber of over fifty years, Tom first climbed Yosemite‘s El Capitan in 1972 and is still an active climber who credits his longevity in the sport in large part to the practice of Qigong. In 2008, he assumed Dr. Ken Sancier's duties and lineage as President of the Qigong Institute.

MICHAEL WINN

Presentation Title:  How to Supercharge your Qigong with a Pink Love Dragon and the Inner Smile.

Taoists are amazingly creative, inventing thousands of qigong forms over the millennia.  This inspired me to create custom forms to help students embody subtle Qi of inner alchemy meditation – a Cosmic Love Torus Qigong and revising the classic Five Animals Play to include the  Six Healing Sounds.

There are even simpler ways to get Qi-creative.  Anyone – teachers and students – can improve their favorite qigong, by internally super-charging the forms they love and practice daily without changing the outer physical movements.  I will share in detail two of my favorite methods:

1. How to infuse Inner Smile spiritual power into any qigong.  Activate hidden “Shen” qualities in your vital organs and meridians to radically empower the “Jing” and “Qi” levels of our Energy Body.  
2. How to invoke a Pink Love Dragon to increase the playful loving quality of any form.  Chinese dragons, very different from winged dark side Western dragons, are Qi-functions of the Planetary Energy Body.  The secret is tapping their spiral power to concentrate loving Qi within a qigong form.

Bio: Michael Winn, a seminal qigong teacher in the West for 40 years, is an NQA founder, its first two-term president (1998 – 2000), and serves on its Advisory Council.  He co-wrote Mantak Chia’s first seven books, including the first how-to in English on the Micro-cosmic Orbit and Taoist Secrets of Love:  Cultivating Male Sexual Energy.  Study with dozens of masters and 21 Dream Trips to China led Winn to evolve his Healing Tao USA system, with 10 home study courses that supercharge qigong with inner alchemy meditation.

His Way of the Inner Smile:  Tao Path to Peace & Self-Acceptance is a classic.  He is working on a seven book series on Primordial Qigong, Tao Cosmology and inner Alchemy as a Way of Enlightened Whole-Body Self-Love.  He wrote the medical qigong chapter in A Physician’s Guide to Alternative Medicine,  and is on the editorial board of the Journal of Daoist Studies.

Winn lives in a log home in Asheville, N.C.  He plans to build a retreat The Temples of Heaven & Earth, a global center for Loving Energy Science.

ZHONGXIAN WU

Presentation  Title: Chinese Shamanic Tiger Talisman

According to Wu巫 (Chinese shamanism) and Daoist traditions, Fu 符 (talismans) allow us direct access to universal Qi for the purposes of inner cultivation, healing, and creating harmonizing Fengshui energy. 

HuFu 虎符, the Tiger Talisman, which represents the Metal Element, respiratory system, the Vital Breath of the Dao, and the spirit of the West and the lungs. The 9 movements of the Chinese Shamanic Tiger Talisman Qigong form represent the power of the Tiger Talisman and connect practitioner with the rhythm of nature and the life force. Regular practice will help strengthen your breathing function, attune your personal Qi to the high-quality Qi of the Universe, and enhance the effectiveness of your healing ability and martial art skills. In this workshop, we will focus on: Classical talisman cultivation and healing principles; The Tiger Talisman and its Qigong form; and directly experience the healing and spiritual transformation aspects of this practice.

Bio:  Master Zhongxian Wu, lifelong Daoist practitioner, was born in a traditional fishing village on China’s eastern shore, where the sunlight first touches the Chinese mainland. At an early age he committed himself to the pursuit of the ancient arts of internal cultivation: Qigong, Taiji, internal martial arts, Chinese medicine, Yijing science, FengShui, Chinese astrology and cosmology, Chinese calligraphy and traditional Chinese music.

Since 1988, he has instructed tens thousands of students throughout China, North America and Europe. He was the Qigong teacher for the first NQA trip to China in 2000 and has been teaching Qigong regularly for NQA conferences since 2002. 

Master Wu synthesizes wisdom and experience for beginning and advanced practitioners, as well as for patients seeking healing, in his unique and professionally designed courses and training programs. He has authored numerous articles and 15 books (5 in Chinese) on China’s ancient life sciences. In addition to workshops and training programs, he also offers one-on-one sessions for serious students interested in External-Qi Healing; Yijing,

Fengshui, or Chinese astrology consultation; and/or traditional Daoist cultivation practices. For further details, please visit www.chinesewisdomtraditions.com

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