Our Wild Swan Flowing River Qigong CommunityBlog:-
Friday 9th August 2024 (Year of the Wood Dragon):
Just a quick interim update folks:-
We have been practising now together Wednesdays and Saturdays 10am since June and already our community is growing, with around 50 of us together as write this; with between 10 and 18 people attending each class. The weather too has been mostly very kind to us. In torrential rain, when the Park was deserted, we still continued under the Cricket Pavilion even, with true determination!
Many of us are enjoying chatting afterwards at Court Gardens Cafe over a cuppa on the veranda. We have all made many many friends, with several people coming from further afield, such as Henley and Chalfont even.
We too have an impressive array of professions and skills amongst us – enough for our own health care centre too! From several Psychotherapists, Pilates and Yoga Teachers, Nutritionists, Acupuncture, Homeopathy, Social Care Experts, two Qigong Teachers now, amongst many other incredible practitioners, from Lawyers, Presenters to Magicians!
The support and connection of everyone is lovely and truly shows deeply we are all really getting OUR project and feeling the benefits, with people reporting phenomenal rewards from practising this ancient noble art. All the enthusiasm and support for practise is heart warming. All with no need for money or transaction – hurrah!
Much thanks particularly to Mel, who has set up a whatsapp group and is building a Facebook presence (see links page), getting us on Marlow FM and with Krista’s brilliant Marlow Living app also – thank you too Krista! Even more impressive is Mel is doing this too even whilst on holiday with her family!!
Amanda is kindly getting Ky (Multi media genius!) to film a set too so people can access the first Five Element Flow whilst on holiday or between sessions. James is kindly expounding the benefits of Qigong from a Traditional Chinese Medicine Framework to many many people, now all in attendance, and is kindly providing further detailed information on meridians and acupoints. Colm (Haz) the founder of Stamp Out Suicide (SOS) came to our first Saturday to join in all the way from Warrington! Pav is making some incredible key rings with scan code on linking to website.
As the year progresses we too will have additional classes for specific issues, such as lower backs, and also classes specifically for kids, and we are looking at local halls too, for when is too cold or wet to sensibly practise outside.
Too, much gratitude for all the places displaying our posters (particularly the Court Garden Cafe and Leisure Centre, The Penguin Fish Bar, and Heighway Associates Architects) and additionally everyone sharing posts on multi media.
It is a real joy all practising together and so great to have such enthusiasm and energy freely given right from the start as we watch this organically grow – in time too am sure what will be a common site in Higginson Park of a morning, like the many parks in Asian countries, especially China – Qigong practitioners quietly changing themselves and the world!
See ya soon!
Peace Love and Qigong Dear Friends!
Mark
Thursday 15th August 2024. Update.
This morning Amanda and myself, overseen by Ky’s technical multimedia genius, did the first Five Element Flow Set, in their garden in Marlow Bottom, with preliminaries and a full hours practise, filming the session.
It is the intention to share this through the multi media channels (Facebook, Whatsapp group) through Mel, so people can have this to practise with on holiday, or at home, to become more familiar with the Flows, and have a practise when cant make classes.
We kept it informal, like the classes, (minus the cheesy Qigong jokes! Cheese-Gong!!), and will be available soon…and despite a reluctance to even having my photo taken, decided a video was for the greater good and agreed lol!
Friday 16th August 2024
Wild Swan latte served in Dorset auspiciously the weekend before our Higginson Park Group commenced…wonder if we can persuade the M cafe at Court Gardens to serve these when we meet there!
Friday 23rd August 2024
Had a great catch up and chat this morning with Simon Jennings, the Tai Chi Teacher, over a cuppa on the veranda at M cafe Court Gardens, also holding classes in the park this week.
Simon is such a warm, lovely and genuine chap, with many many years of practise and experience, who is extremely supportive of what we are building in our Wild Swan community.
He will mention to his group about our classes and sessions also this weekend. He holds twice yearly week-long hour sessions at 9am down by the river front at Higginson Park, alongside his various classes locally.
https://www.facebook.com/Azuretaichi/?locale=en_GB
He too very kindly said that should I be away, or unwell, with notice to everyone, he will gladly step in, so we do not lose any classes, as Ian hopefully will also, who too has said that he would hold the occasional class for us.
We are hoping to also hold some collaborative days where we can both participate (and Ian too please if you are reading this) and offer Qigong and Tai Chi to the local community in additional events…. Over to you Krista please to organise!
It is lovely to see how things are growing and developing purely organically, with no agendas, or plans as such, true to the principle of Wu Wei, doing non-doing, action non-action, just evolving as our community builds.
Pav kindly has today produced more key rings with web address and scan code for us to share around too.
Mel continues to add to the website, which now is getting wider coverage, (she adds posts etc as Wild Swan Flowing River – my photo in black, and I comment etc as Wild Swan Mark with a different cheesy pic – cant believe am back on Facebook, even in a small way lol).
Marlow Living, Marlow FM and now Round and About Magazine have kindly helped promote what we are building. Is great everyone is really getting what we are all doing here, and am touched by all the support and kindness.
Peace Love and Qigong!
Monday 26th August 2024
We had a lovely practise session Saturday under the Cricket pavilion veranda. Was lovely listening to the rain as we flowed. The park was completely empty and the rain torrential, with the sound of the rain pouring down on the roof, and also the drops bouncing up from the puddles; it was a very easy setting to go deep into the movements. Lovely.
We are working on securing a hall for the colder months when rain prevents or is just way too cold, but really intending to be outdoors practising in nature whenever we can be, wrapped up, and flowing.
Friday 6th September 2024.
Note for diary!
Qigong and Tai Chi Teacher, Ian Souch, a member of our group, will be taking the session on Saturday 5th October 2024, 10am, usual place, as Mark will be away.
Many of us have met him at our group practises. Ian has kindly changed his schedule to accommodate us here.
Ian is an incredibly experienced Teacher, and such a lovely spirit, with many many years under his belt both Teaching and practising, having practised all over the world.
He too is a member of the magic circle and has blown us away with his card tricks. Ask nicely and he may demonstrate.
Intention over time is to have many Teachers in our community and we hope too many people will train also.
Simon Jennings another incredible and deeply experienced Tai Chi and Qigong Teacher too has kindly agreed to both take classes, and also collaborate in workshops and events together, over the coming year.
Saturday 7th September 2024
We had a lovely practise session this morning in the misty autumnal park, by our beautiful tree. We had 22 of us; with 3 new friends join us, the most to date.
Mark and James met with the manager of Court Gardens Leisure Centre, and James had the brilliant idea of a squash court as a back-up if raining. They had a look and said can quite comfortably fit 25 of us in there, with 3 more on the balcony if required. The acoustics were good so no troubles hearing. As there is only one court, there will be no noise from next door, plus apparently the court is nearly always available, and very cheap to book (£11/40mins).
We can look at our Whatsapp group and Facebook page where this latest information will be placed just before a session if rain likely. Fortunately the centre is just 2 minutes walk across the park, so a great bolt hole.
With over 20 in a group the circle has now perhaps become too large to be able to hear properly, without mic or shouting (now relax!!!), so we will experiment with two or three arcs as numbers build.
For morning and full day workshops over the coming year we are looking into function rooms or halls, and other suitable venues too if raining on Wednesdays and Saturdays, however practising under the pavilion veranda in a downpour is a wonderfully deep experience still.
Over the coming months it feels that smaller groups may also arrange to meet in the park at other times to practise, and this could be broadcast on the whatsapp group to let people arrange and meet up.
It is a possibility too that next year a group holiday/retreat could be organised, where a group of us could go away to the same resort, and can leisurely practise in the mountains or on the beach together for a week.
Mark has visited Corralejo, Oliva Beach, in Fuerteventura, (there is one other hotel there nearby too) many times and practised on the vast quiet sandy beach and sand dunes there himself, so this could be a possible Winter option particularly. There would be no retreat fees, just each paying for their own flight and accommodation, and the hotel and complex there is all inclusive board with a lot of space and many rooms and small apartments.
Have a great week and look forward to practising all together soon!
Monday 9th September 2024
Yesterday lunchtime a group of us were invited to James and Jemma Whelpton’s house for a Qigong session in their garden and lunch afterwards. James had truly wanted to throw the invitation out to our whole community, but was limited by room at his house.
We will organise many social events within our community, over the coming months, in addition to Qigong, such as Christmas dinner, days, mornings, meet ups, Qigong walks, Forest bathing (shinrin yoku), etc alongside our regular Wednesday and Saturday sessions.
We had a lovely day, and James was the most incredible host, providing a sumptuous banquet of vegetarian food, which the rain was kind to us, and we ate it in the beautiful setting around his swimming pool – it was like going to another country – such as Greece, for the afternoon, and was very warm too.
Kyra, the family dog, received much attention, and was a delightful companion to us all.
We did a lovely group Five Element Flow 1 Qigong session on the grass together in his lawn area, and even had a low Spitfire fly over from White Waltham!
Thank you to James and Jemma for most kindly hosting us all. It was a wonderful day spent practising and chatting with friends!
MSH
