Park in the big lot on the NE corner of Lamar and Belleview. It has a big pay-slot thingy, but you don't have to pay. I guess you can if you really, really wanted to, but you seriously don't have to pay. Enter the South Side building through the front entrance on Lamar, up the elevators to loft 911.

The front door of the building is on Lamar, and there you will find a concierge station and three elevators.

We will be on the 9th floor, loft 911, right next to the elevators.

This style of chi gong was designed by Ferol Humphrey and is intended as an introduction to Blue Lotus Heart Style Chi Gong. I lead the group in at least one or possibly all 3 of the basic energies that go into making up a healthy human: earth, trunk, and sky. The meetup generally lasts 1 hour, though sometimes runs longer depending on how the group flows--hey, it's an intuition-building exercise, so the timing and the exercises covered are intuitive, too!

There is a whole heck of a lot involved in this style of chi gong, and the applications are mind-boggling. It has been used to lessen and quickly heal a burn from a gas stove pilot light flare. I've used it myself to stop and actually reverse sunburns twice. I've also used it to allow me to sit inches away from the fire pit during a purification (sweat) lodge, and was the least physically affected, though I was the least experienced and have a history of low heat-tolerance. It can be used to help you sleep, to energize you, to increase your awareness of who is around you and how that affects you, to improve your personal-space boundaries and help the empathic stop getting drained by other people's problems, to prevent or heal illness, to be less clumsy, and to be more aware of and have a better connection with your body in more ways than I can list.

I've been practicing this style of chi gong for a couple years now, and it has given me a greater understanding of every other type of meditation, energy-related, or new age whatever that I have studied before or since. That is, I've learned a lot from it for its own sake, as well as supplementing my understanding of other studies. It's taken me from being unable to relate or uncertain of my relating to meditation to being able to sense energy in a variety of ways and being a lot more confident in my abilities.

One of the most common questions I get from people considering coming to this meetup is what to wear. YOU DO NOT NEED TO WEAR EXERCISE CLOTHES. One of the many delightful intentions of this style of chi gong is that it can be done anywhere--standing in line at the bank; sitting at your desk while your boss yells at you; with your hands full of cats, toddlers, or bags; and to a certain extent while driving. This style can be done in any position, in any clothes, and in any location.

So for those who are interested in learning more beyond the basics, I highly, highly recommend Ferol's classes; her teaching style is deliberately designed to help even the most energy-nonsensing people begin detecting energy very quickly. This meetup can be used to try out this style and figure out whether you want to take Ferol's classes. It can also just be your monthly practice by itself. I have been offering this meetup class for free for some time, and will continue to offer it for free for January, February, and March, after which I will charge $10.