Release Your Nervous System for Relaxation & Optimising Cardiovascular Health
15-20 August (Sunday to Friday)
Cubjac, Dordogne/South of
Continuing Professional Development (CDP) Certificates are available at every course Paul teaches on request.
Heart disease is the number one killer in the Western world. Stress and anxiety are silent accomplices causing or exacerbating symptoms of high-blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and many more illnesses, injuries and diseases of the modern age.
Contemporary living is stressful by design, but there is so much you can do to live peacefully and healthy without adhering to strict dietary or extreme workout regimes.
This retreat is specifically designed to build your personal toolkit for neutralising and preventing stress, anxiety and heart disease, softening and opening the body, and developing an abundance of energy. You will learn many exercises and techniques that work directly with the cardiovascular and nervous systems to heal injuries and illness, and foster incredible health and vitality from deep within your body, mind and spirit.
This is a unique course designed to develop two distinct yet integrated tracks of study.
Track 1: Neigong
Paul will teach simple yet highly effective neigong exercises, such as Circling Hands and Clouds Hands, in order to focus deeply on the internal content that powers these profound exercises’ benefits and effectiveness. Standing, moving, sitting, lying down and partner exercises will be used in order to embody the details that optimise these ancient healing tools for desired results.
The neigong components of study will be:
- Breathing
- Feeling, moving and transforming energy
- Dissolving internal blockages
- Lengthening soft tissue
- Bending and stretching
- Turning and twisting
- Pulsing joints
Once this material has been developed to a certain degree, Paul will give instructions on how to apply this to more advanced neigong, bagua and tai chi training.
The focus of the nigong material will be on:
- Optimising the vascular system for circulating blood
- Releasing pressure from the heart
- Gently but firmly massaging the heart
- Increasing the effectiveness of venous return
- Releasing the nerves for deep relaxation
- Releasing excess energy and blood out of the head and brain
- Creating a smooth and continuous nerve flow.
When the nervous system releases on a profound level the body naturally opens up. When the body opens and the vascular system is optimised every function of your body increases in effectiveness. There’s nothing like better results for less output!
If you don’t have your health you don’t have anything. Whether you have practised energy work for many years or are new to the powerful yet gentle way of the Water Method, you can reduce vascular and nervous tension and strengthen your heart for lifelong vitality.
Track 2: Circle Walking—The Yin Perspective
Bagua is normally known for its yang aspects, incredible strength, athletic fitness and martial prowess. However, there is another side to the coin.
The yin perspective or monastic tradition provides a different methodology where you learn how to open the body without force. This is achieved by using Circle Walking and palm postures to melt your nervous system. When the nerves release the body opens with little effort, which aids energy circulation and development.
This approach allows the practitioner to exercise longer, gaining smooth, fluid movement, an abundance of chi and vibrant health whilst retaining the original flavour of bagua: deep internal strength with incredible flexibility.
We will work with the following:
- Three-, four- and two-part stepping
- Straight Line and Circle Walking
- Body unification exercises
- Heel-toe and mud walking
- Walking postures
- Aerobic exercise whilst remaining calm
- How to take what you learn into normal walking
- Rolling the Ball (for advanced practitioners only).
The exercises and techniques that Paul will teach have been used for millennia. They are some of the oldest and most powerful methods for rejuvenating the body, releasing the emotions, emptying the mind and freeing the spirit.
This retreat will build from the very foundation all that is required to fully implement the yin aspects of bagua:
- Releasing the eyes to access the nervous system
- Releasing and dissolving tension and blocked energy
- Melting the nervous system
- Lengthening, twisting and coiling
- Pulsing
- Breathing
- Opening up the vascular system.
This is a content-rich course and all material will be balanced and integrated, creating a powerful synergy that yields effective and desirable results. Bagua engages the cardiovascular system and releases the nervous system more than other internal arts. Emphasis on the yin makes it an excellent healing tool without a lot of complicated choreography. We’re just going for a walk!
Although the main emphasis is on health and vitality, Paul will spend some time each day answering questions. For experienced practitioners, he will also teach aspects from the first five palm changes, rou shou and martial applications for those who are interested.