WORLD TAI CHI AND QIGONG DAY

QIGONG INSTITUTE AND NORTHWEST YMCA JOIN TO SPONSOR WORLD TAI CHI AND QIGONG DAY EVENT

Participants join in a WORLDWIDE event to benefit humanity and to learn easy yet powerful practices to help maintain and improve their health.

MENLO PARK, Calif., April 6, 2005 - (http://www.qigonginstitute.org). The Qigong Institute, serving the public through Qigong (pronounced “chee-gung”) education and research programs, today announced that it is co-sponsoring a World Tai Chi & Qigong Day (WTCQD) event with the Northwest YMCA in Cupertino, CA. The main event is being held at the Northwest YMCA in Cupertino on Saturday, April 30, 2005 from 9 AM to 11 AM. This FREE event is open to the public.

WORLD T'AI CHI & QIGONG DAY was started eight years ago by Bill Douglas, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to T'ai Chi & Qigong, as a way to introduce people to the profound healing and health maintenance benefits of Tai Chi (a moving form of Qigong) and Qigong. The event has grown into a worldwide phenomenon, practiced in over sixty countries. It starts at 10 AM in the earliest time zone on April 30th, and flows as a gentle wave across the entire planet. The wave will have been travelling for almost 24 hours by the time it reaches Cupertino! People feeling the incredible stress management benefits of these ancient tools realize what they offer humanity, and have begun to come together to share that awareness with society at large . . . and at a time when the world needs it the most. More information on WTCQD can be found on worldtaichiday.org.

Mayor Patrick Kwok and the City Council of Cupertino, California have issued a Proclamation declaring April 30, 2005 as World Tai Chi and Qigong Day “in recognition of the profound teachings and health advocated by practitioners of Tai Chi and Qigong to the people, families, and community of Cupertino.”

“The Qigong Institute is pleased to be a sponsor of this Qigong and Tai Chi event which introduces people to these extremely effective self-initiated health care practices that the Chinese have been using for thousands of years,” said Ken Sancier, founder and Chairman of the Qigong Institute. “Qigong is much easier to learn and practice than yoga, and provides a way to exercise for a range of diseases and chronic conditions which are not being adequately addressed by current western medical practices”.

Self-initiated Health-Care Practices Gives Participants Tools for Healthy Living

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, 70% of diseases are preventable, yet most people have no idea of how to do this. Being truly well requires much more than workouts at the gym or western-style aerobic sports. While most exercises focus on building muscles or endurance, Qigong focuses on the body as a whole and involves the direct exercise of the circulatory, lymphatic, digestive, nervous, and respiratory systems. Slow, graceful movements combined with mental concentration and relaxed breathing are used to increase and balance a person’s vital energy or life force (Qi). These very mild yet profound stress reducing practices strengthen the immune system and vital organs, and they increase strength and flexibility. Learning how to stay healthy is especially important given our increasingly costly and declining health-care services and options.

Cupertino Mayor Patrick Kwok reading the Proclamation,
witnessed by Tom Rogers (VP Qigong Institute), and
Aileen Jong, and Thao Layer from the Northwest YMCA in
Cupertino. Close up. Photo credit: Mike Jackman.

Thao Layer, Tom Rogers, and Aileen Jong, with
proclamation in front of the Cupertino Community Hall,
with the Cupertino Community Hall sign clearly
visible. Photo credit: Mike Jackman.

See the the QI's proclamation along with many others http://worldtaichiday.org/WTCProclamations.html

Qigong Institute Homepage   Contact QI