The spirit of the Heart,
where joy resides:
Summer Qigong Workshop
26th July 26
9:30am - 1:45pm
The School Room,
St Mary's Church,
Childwickbury, AL3 6JJ
£50
Step into the fullness of summer, not as a fleeting season but as a natural unfolding that were shaped by the quiet depths of winter and the tender emergence of spring.
In this heartfelt workshop, we explore the Fire phase of Qigong and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) as a lived experience of warmth, awareness, and connection that gently come into bloom through the tranquillity of your own heart & gentle presence. Through guided movement, breath, and subtle inner practices, you’ll be invited into your own heart to cultivate a quality of inner warmth that doesn’t overwhelm or over consume, but instead steadies & connects you with yourself and others.
Qigong is a skilful practice rooted in the wisdom of Classical Chinese Medicine and Daoist traditions. It is a way of cultivating and balancing Qi, the vital energy within the body to help support health, harmony, and well-being. At its heart, qigong is an art of moving with inner strength and awareness, while exuding outer softness, and mindful alignment.
This is an invitation to inhabit summer from the gentle fire within your heart. Practicing to arise with joy, not as intensity or stimulation, but as quiet, enduring warmth, connection & inner glow.
In this experiential workshop, we’ll explore how the main organ most closely associated with the Fire phase, the Heart, is the home of our inner spirit that wishes to open with clarity and ease. The heart being the place of cultivating deep-hearted connection, awareness, emotions and emotional balance, allowing joy to arise not as intensity or stimulation, but as a quiet, enduring warmth & radiant inner glow.
The emphasis is not the diagnosis of our heart, it’s the curiosity of somatic, self-observation & sensation through the lens of qigong forms & breath work.
Summertime has a sensory richness and aliveness that help ease into these heart-felt practices. This phase in the seasonal cycle embodies expansion: as plant life is in full bloom, there is a greater desire for connection with friends, weddings and outdoor events. The natural world flourishes & expresses itself in its fullest vitality and this rich nectar of summer can be absorbed fully through all the soft, feeling sense of our gently beating heart. There will be plenty of space for discussion, questions, and reflections. Whether you’re new or seasoned to qigong, you’ll feel supported to learn. If the weather permits, we will practice in the sweet garden at the venue.
In this workshop
you will learn:
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Breathwork to soften upper chest tension.
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Fire Phase qigong movement forms.
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Soft, rhythmic movements that balance upward energy while remaining grounded.
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Understanding the Heart as the centre of awareness, presence, and emotional coherence. (Shen)
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Developing warmth of heart and your sense of steady joy.
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Soft contemplations into recognising signs of imbalance, such as irritability, agitation, or low emotional “spark”.
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Short daily Qigong sequences to support connection with your own Heart/spirit.
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Feeling into slower and subtler sensations for when you're feeling overburdened.
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Enquiry into building connection without depletion and emotional boundaries and Heart protection.
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The foundations of standing meditation, with skill and ease. Options for both standing and seated practice.
Workshop Details:
Within the physical body, the Summer Fire phase is most closely associated with the Heart system, not just the physical heart, but the Shen, which refers to the spirit, as in TCM, the Heart is where the spirit-mind resides. During this workshop, we will pay close attention to the Heart, not through the typical idea of “heart opening” you might find in a yoga class. Instead, the Fire phase invites us to move beyond simply “energising the Heart” and toward understanding that which animates and shapes our heart, our spirit.
Working with the summer fire phase movement forms, in Qigong and TCM, the Heart is regarded as the sovereign, the inner ruler that harmonises the body’s functions and is the seat of our emotional and psychological being. In the language of summer, the heart can be like the sun at its highest point, illuminating and colouring our inner and outer landscape. At times it feels radiant, open, and buoyant like a clear summer sky; at other times it can feel clouded, heavy, or unsettled like heat gathering before a storm. The Heart however, is never fixed, it moves between contraction and expansion, shaped not only by movement but also by the changing conditions within and around us, much like nature responding to the fullness of the cycle of the seasons.
The fullness of the Fire phase will offer you practices for your kind, gentle heart.
This seamless practice weaves together movement, breath, and insight, leaving you feeling grounded, clear, and deeply attuned to the rhythm of the season.
You are warmly invited to bring your own lunch, as we’ll pause during the workshop take a break to eat & to share a meal together, an opportunity to connect with like-minded souls in relaxed conversation under the summer sky.
Each participant will receive an 8-page manual on the Fire Phase, along with guided contemplations to support reflection and integration beyond the workshop. These resources are designed to help you continue honouring your kind, gentle heart and your natural joie de vivre.
See you there.
