8 PIECES OF BROCADE 

The 8 pieces of Brocade is a 1000 year old chi kung routine developed as a restorative healing routine by a Chinese General for his troops. It includes 8 simple effective movement sequences to help balance yin and yang, harmonize and nourish your internal organs, strengthen your body’s ability to heal and boost your immune system. The Eight Pieces of Brocade can be practiced by people of all ages and physical conditions. It serves as a great classic introduction to chi kung.

In these 1 ½ hour classes, you will:

1. Learn an effective bodymindspirit chi kung warm up plus a chi permeating and chi threading exercise.
2. Learn the basic movements and internal intentions of this classic routine
3. Receive personal feedback and direction to refine your movements
4. Gain insight into the theory and root principles of chi kung in action
5. Receive a print out and resources of what we cover in class for your private training

Instructor: Geoff Kuffner is a nationally-certified Alexander Technique teacher and advanced Chi Nei Tsang and Thai Massage Practitioner. He first learned the 8 Brocades in 2001 from Joel Proctor, founder of the Mystic Warrior School in Summit County Colorado, who learned them from Dr. Yang of Yang Martial Arts Academy.

5 ELEMENT CHI KUNG FOUNDATIONS

Earth, Metal, Water, Wood, Fire. The Five elements of Chi Kung practice are understood to be the foundations of all life, threaded through all experience within and without. In this class series, we explore, cultivate, nourish, transform and harmonize the inner and outer elements through specific movements, breathing, intentions and imaginations. We begin and end with recognition of the fundamental space of experience–wuji, gradually integrating this experience into all our doings. We build on a base series easy to learn, emphasizing the particular element of the season we are in. Along with this, class includes warm-ups and doses of added creativity.

This course is an integration & on-going distillation of many different trainings, studies and discoveries I have made over the last 15 years.

HEALING BUDDHA PALMS: THE HEALER’S PREPARATION

There are many, many ways healer’s prepare to do their work. Healing Buddha Palms is a formula meant to put us in touch with a boundless depth of resources, to clarify, transform, fortify, extend, deepen and empty our energetic presence in advance of our essential activities and work with others. It is a practice that integrates many practices so each part of the form is a practice and meditation in and of itself. In this class, we learn the full form–fairly simple as far as movements go–then explore it’s aspects in detail with further exercises. Also included are warm-ups and some discussions of application within healing sessions. Healing Buddha Palms is a root practice for Chi Nei Tsang healing sessions. I first learned it from Master Practitioner and Teacher Gilles Marin who learned it from his teacher Master Mantak Chia of the Universal Healing Tao.
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WORKSHOP OFFERINGS

Waking the Kinesthetic Sense: Intro to the Alexander Technique and Somatic Practice
A 6-week class with the option of including one discounted private lesson. Bring the principles of conscious movement into your daily life, yoga practice, athletic or artistic performance. Learn how to waken and soothe your nervous system and transform your movement habits into ease and freedom. Sitting, standing, walking, bending, twisting, breathing–all these daily actions can cause pain, fear and limitation or be a source of joy and confidence.

Introduction to the Meditating Body
This can be a short one time special or a four week class. Explore the inner dynamics of the sitting posture with a nationally certified Alexander Technique teacher and long-time meditator trained in Thailand, Burma, India and with master teachers in the West. In this class, we will review the many sitting postures, discussing their purpose and pros and cons. Then we’ll explore the principles to keep in mind and body awareness we need to develop to sit balanced and without the extra tension that can lead to injury, discomfort and turn us off from sitting meditation altogether. Bring your questions.

Introduction to the Meditating Heart
This can be a one time special or a four week class. Learn Taoist and Buddhist techniques for clearing the heart and cultivating a stable, resilient, expansive openness. This class series includes instruction in and discussion of the inner smile, metta, the 7-step method for cultivating bodhicitta and tonglen. Your guide is a 15-year student of the Buddhist transformational arts, Alexander Technique teacher and a Chi Nei Tsang practitioner trained in Taoist formulas for inner cultivation.

Cultivating the Elemental Force of Earth
This class is a favorite. First presented at the Quiet Center in Auroville, India. It can be a weekend workshop of one or two days or a 6- to 8-week class series. In Taoist, Buddhist and Ayurvedic arts the Earth Force manifests on the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual level. This course integrates hatha yoga postures, Chi Gong, ecological processes, nutritional inquiry and meditation in order to cultivate qualities of the Earth force on all levels. Relationship with Gravity, Unconditional Support, Equanimity, Structural Integrity, Nourishment, The Goddess. Deepen your personal practice and connection with the earth from the inside out.

Alchemy of Breath
This is a four week class or a 1/2 day workshop. This class explores the anatomy of breath, how to release held patterns (in Alexander terms we say “free the breath”) and practices from pranayama, chi gong and somatics with specific benefits and sometimes risks (!).

SCHOOL PROGRAMS

I welcome opportunities to introduce and guide students of all ages in the meditation arts and somatic learning. I’ve taught an 8-week meditation course at a high school and chi kung & somatics at summer camps. I especially like using the five elements to help students see the relationships between their own bodies and the greater earth.

This work is a wonderful extension of physical education and the ecological arts. It helps students to understand themselves, to work on their emotions and mindfully use their bodies. It has the great added benefit of calming the students, helping them access states of easy smiles and giving them tools to work on themselves in the classroom.

I was greatly inspired by a program in the schools in Auroville, India and believe it would be of wonderful benefit here. Joan Sala and Aloka Marti, the creators, call it Awareness Through The Body. It is part of the standard school curriculum for youths from kindergarten through 12th grade. They are now teaching internationally. More information is available on their website:www.awarenessthroughthebody.com