Calm Chicago

Posts Tagged ‘tai chi’

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Full-day Mindfulness Retreat Sat. Jan 14, 2012 10am-4pm

In Meditation, Stress reduction on January 4, 2012 at 2:40 am

Register Now for a Stress-Free Day

Join us and learn how to make your body more healthy and your mind calmer.
 Practices effective against many common and preventable illnesses like: high blood pressure, diabetes, and other stress-related illnesses. (thank you World Tai Chi Day)

Interfaith retreat will be led by Hillary and her husband, Ving Tsun Sifu, Matthew Johnson. Come enjoy a day of peace: Alternating periods of dynamic meditation featuring qigong and walking meditation with standing and sitting meditation along with short talks by both retreat leaders on practical applications of all forms of meditation.
Vegetarian Pot-Luck Lunch. Please bring something to share.

Free. Donations gratefully accepted. Suggested donation $25
Please no perfumes or cologne. Silence all cell phones etc.
Please register using the form below.


Check out our full calendar of classes by clicking on the photo!

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Master Jiru in Little Village for Tai Chi Dec. 11

In Tai Chi on December 11, 2011 at 3:22 am

Master Jiru will join us for class tomorrow!

Sunday Dec. 11 from 2-4pm for class in meditation, tai chi and sutra study. Hope you can make it for an enlightening afternoon of practice and peace together. 2752 S Central Park Ave. Chicago, IL 60623 Join Us!

 

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Practice to Know Where You Are

In Tai Chi on December 9, 2011 at 2:56 pm

When you practice tai chi or qigong today, treat your practice as a meditation.

Know that you are breathing, aware of each in and out breath. Try to be aware of your whole body as you move through the postures, the form. Know where you are in each moment of practice. Then, do it again.

Dan Bien/Single Whip Posture

When you know where you are, nothing can move your mind. You can’t be thrown off-balance physically or emotionally. Working on this a little every day, makes your life more peaceful because you slow down and don’t have the stress of feeling off-balance.

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Yang Tai Chi 24-form Video

In Tai Chi, Taiji on November 28, 2011 at 6:40 pm

Dan Bien/Single Whip Posture

I humbly offer this video of my own recent practice while on retreat at MABA. I hope you may find it useful in your own practice.

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Free Retreat (libre retiro) June 18

In Meditation on June 5, 2011 at 2:01 am

The Little Village Buddhist Meditation Center will hold its first meditation and tai chi retreat Saturday, June 18 from 10 am- 2pm. All are welcome. No previous experience required. Join us for a day of mindful peace. Free. Donations gratefully accepted. Please silence your cell phones and other electronic devices. Also, please no perfumes or colognes. Register at our website. May all beings experience peace and happiness, Hillary

Hola amigos, La Villita Centro de Meditación Budista celebrarásu primera meditación y retiro de tai chi Sábado, 18 de junio de 10 am a 2 pm. Todos son bienvenidos. No se requiere experiencia previa. Únase a nosotros para un día de paz consciente. Libre. Donaciones aceptada con gratitud. Por favor, tu silencio los teléfonos celulares y otros dispositivos electrónicos. También, por favor, no perfumes o colonias. Inscríbase en nuestro sitio web. Que todos los seres experiencia de la paz y la felicidad, Hillary

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Today! Free! First Class at Little Village Buddhist Meditation Center (Hoy en día! Gratis! Primera Clase en el Centro de Meditación Budista de La Villita )

In Tai Chi on May 27, 2011 at 4:17 pm

Hillary in 1st posture 18-form Shi ba shi

FREE! This afternoon and this evening are the first tai chi and meditation classes. We start at 4pm. All welcome. No special clothing required. Soft soled shoes are best. Donations gratefully accepted. GRATIS! Esta tarde y esta noche son las primeras clases de tai chi y meditación. Empezamos a las 16:00. Todos serán bienvenidos. No se permite ropa especial. Blando con suela de los zapatos son los mejores. Donaciones aceptada con gratitud.

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One Thing Tai Chi Practice is Not (via Calm Chicago’s Blog)

In Stress reduction, Tai Chi on May 21, 2011 at 5:05 am

Since tomorrow is the new Buddhist Meditation Center opening in Little Village in Chicago it feels like a good time to bring this post back.
Why?
Because as the potential for new teaching, new students arises it’s a time to reassess how the teaching occurs. To ask, what is most important to say, to share.

If a new person asks, so what’s tai chi and why should I do it? What does a good teacher say?

I feel like Popeye. I want to say, “Eat your spinach! It’s good for you.”

So, with tai chi, we can say, tai chi has this and that benefit to you but in the end, in order to really understand, a person has to do it themselves.

Tai chi can help you reduce stress and be healthier in the body and the mind. How do these things happen? You have to do it and see for yourself.

One Thing Tai Chi Practice is Not Tai chi (or taiji) is not something you can learn by thinking about it or by doing some complex analysis. Beginners and more experienced practitioners learn the same way … through direct experience. It’s through this direct experience, this intense, sharp focus, maintained throughout the form, with the total object of the mind, the body/breath/mind, brought totally together as one that does the teaching. A teacher can guide you but even that on … Read More

via Calm Chicago’s Blog

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New Buddhist Meditation Center in Little Village Chicago

In About our center on May 16, 2011 at 2:41 pm

Saturday, May 21 Open House!

The center is opening to serve the families of Little Village and the surrounding communities. Our doors will be open to all. Our intention is to help people reduce their levels of stress. Our classes will help people of all ages attain better health and peace of mind.

We’ll offer classes in meditation, Yang tai chi and Ving Tsun (Wing Chun), a very effective style of Chinese Kung Fu.

For those interested in learning more about Buddhism, there will also be opportunities to learn more about that as well.

And please, tell us what you’d like to see happening at the center. We want to hear from you.

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Tai Chi Weekends

In About our center, Tai Chi, Taiji on March 18, 2011 at 12:42 pm

De-Stress Your Weekend

I’m changing the schedule up to return to my original practice of reserving the mornings for my own training, so I can better serve you, the students.

As the saying goes; One door closes – another opens. Many have asked for an evening class time … So, I’m happy to announce that starting today, in celebration of Spring being nearly officially upon us …

Friday evening classes at Ping Tom Park from 6-7pm. 

from park district web site

Every Friday, weather permitting. All welcome, no previous experience required. Just come in comfortable attire and soft shoes and let’s get started. $15/class.

This is a great way to end your work week and let go of the stress you’ve been toting around. Shift your gears to a lower speed and bring yourself the peace resulting from uniting the body, breath and mind. I’ll be teaching 18-form qigong, known as Shi Ba Shi and Yang 24-form tai chi (taiji).

Ping Tom is lovely – water, bamboo, cypress trees and flowers. Very very nice. So come join me. Together we can make ourselves and the world around us more peaceful one breath at a time.

Take a look at this neat article from Huffington Post about the many wonders of qigong.

And here’s another good one, about everyday benefits of tai chi. (also spelled taiji.)

The best way to find out, is of course, through your own experience. So come on out. You’ve got nothing to lose but your stress, anxiety, headaches, restlessness, agitation, worry, sleepless nights … and so much more.

And, please bring your friends. We’ll have a great time.

Hillary

Calm Chicago

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Time Magazine says, “Tai Chi is the Perfect Exercise”

In Tai Chi, Taiji on March 10, 2011 at 4:02 am

Check out this terrific article from Time Magazine and share it with your friends who may be curious about what all this tai chi business is.

 

Here is the link to the article.

I’ll just add that the article closes with saying that younger folks might need a greater aerobic challenge than tai chi presents. Maybe. Everyone is different but there are many forms of tai chi some of which move at a pretty good clip. Even the Yang 24-form which is normally done fairly slowly, can be done fast to increase the aerobic potential. And, I can tell you doing the form over and over, nice and slow gets my heart rate up to 135 easily.

As well, for advanced students, as you move through the form slowly, chewing on the fine details and uncovering the buried treasure for mind and body, one of the things you find is the forms natural centrifugal tendencies. This allows you to develop and make the most of those on many levels.

Let me know what you think. Come on in and try it out. Got nothing to lose but your stress!

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