As we head into the new year 2010 many of us will be making new years resolutions, many of our new resolutions will concern our health. With that in mind I wanted to do something a little different and bring us a meetup that focuses on health and well being from an eastern viewpoint. As martial artists we tend to take our health seriously as this benefits us in our training, healing and recovery from injury, in fact, many martial arts incorporate a form of QiGong in their training, most notably various Chinese Kung-Fu systems and several karate styles such as Goju-Ryu, Uechi-Ryu and Isshin-Ryu.

According to legend, when Bodidharma travelled to the Shaolin monastary he was quite dismayed to find the monks at the temple very sick and weakly. He therefore taught them a series of exercises that utilized a form of QiGong (Chi Kung) to help the monks regain their health and stamina. However after practicing the exercises, the monks found that in addition to becoming healthy again, they had greatly increased their strength.

At the time, China was under tremendous social and political upheaval and it was not unusual for even monasteries to be attacked by invading warlords and marauding bandits. The QiGong training was therefore essential in helping the monks to defend themselves.

In time, the monks became famous for their Shaolin arts and they themselves became known as warrior monks.

Qigong (Chi Kung) - is made up of two Chinese words. Qi is pronounced chee and is usually translated to mean the life force or vital-energy that flows through all things in the universe. The second word, Gong, pronounced gung, means accomplishment, or skill that is cultivated through steady practice. Together, Qigong (Chi Kung) means cultivating energy, it is a system practiced for health maintenance, healing and increasing vitality.

Reiki - Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing and is based on the idea that a "life force energy" flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. If one's "life force energy" is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy.

Georgiana Johnson will be our guest instructor for this meetup. She is a certified teacher in Usui / Tibetan Reiki, as well as Usui Reiki, and certified practitioner in Animal Reiki practicing since 1993. She has studied with several Reiki Masters, and has completed two Reiki Master classes. She is a graduate of the Supreme Science QiGong Center for Natural Healing. Georgiana has taught Qigong at Valencia Community College as well as in the community and has been an Avatar Wizard since 2008. Avatar is a course in consciousness.

You can find Georgiana's complete profile on the Centers website: http://main.qigong.co... or visit her website at: http://www.spiritbrea...

Join us and experience the approach to health and fitness this practice will bring into your life.