Healing Dragon
Steven Cardoza, M.Sc., L.Ac.
2023 Class and Workshop Schedule
NEW CLASSES Beginning Late Winter & Early Spring
All new classes are kept small so that everyone will get individual attention and feedback, and so I can get to everyone's questions during class. Class recordings will be made available to you for download soon after the end of each class, for your future reference.
Daoist Breathing for Health, Longevity and Meditation
Breathing is fundamental to life, to all qigongs, and to deeper spiritual and meditative practices. Most of us give it no thought as it happens spontaneously, 24 hours a day. Since we can also control this automatic, largely unconscious process, it becomes a unique avenue into increasingly subtle aspects of our being, influencing our internal organs, blood and other fluid circulation, nervous system, emotional well-being, and consciousness itself.
Part 1, Daoist Natural Breathing
In Part 1 of this series, you’ll learn the core Daoist breathing practice, including breathing directly into your belly, sides, and low, mid, and upper back. This will pressurize all your internal organs, effectively massaging and cleansing them from the inside, increasing cellular oxygenation and detoxification. At this stage, you’ll achieve numerous health benefits long known to Daoists and now recognized by contemporary western medical science, including:
• increased energy
• decompression of the spine, reducing back pain
• a strengthened immune system
• improved mood and emotional balance
• a lowered risk of cancer, stroke, heart disease, neurodegenerative and other diseases, all linked to hypoxia (sub-optimal oxygenation).
You’ll also learn a few simple breathing techniques specifically designed to:
• reduce stress and anxiety
• improve fitness and endurance
• promote restful sleep.
This is a reclamation of the way we all breathed when we were born, so once learned, you can breathe this way naturally and continuously, even while you sleep. Some people may choose to stop here and enjoy these substantial health benefits. For people wanting to learn more, this training will continue.
Part 2, Transforming Breath to Qi
In Part 2, we’ll deepen everything in Part 1, and introduce how breath becomes a bridge to qi. Some of the practices taught include:
• Slowing and lengthening the breath
This will increase breathing capacity, and with experience, can be used to sequentially rejuvenate the internal organs, the nervous system, and ultimately the glandular system. This is one of the most important ways breath is used to dramatically increase healthy longevity.
• Daoist Yoga and breathing
Some Daoist yoga postures will be used to release unconscious held tension and more deeply open the internal organs, allowing the breath to penetrate more fully, laying the groundwork for transforming breath to qi, to directly move fluids (blood and interstitial fluid) within and around the organs.
• Breathing through the Five Extremities
This begins the process of transforming breath to qi. At this stage, you’ll learn to use your qi to move body fluids through your hands, feet, and head.
• Breathing into the internal organs and the brain
This is a significant deepening of breathing into the organs learned in Part 1. As breath is transformed into qi and they become more clearly experienced as one thing, it’s used to directly move and otherwise influence fluids throughout the body, including blood, lymph, interstitial fluid, synovial fluid, and cerebrospinal fluid. An important step in optimizing the health and functionality of the internal organs and other body tissues.
A few simple breath-centered meditations will be taught during the Part 2 training.
Daoist Breathing may be used as your primary self-care practice, since it profoundly influences health on every level of our being. It may also be used to greatly amplify the benefits of qigong, taiji, yoga, or any other moving practice you may have.
A video recording of each workshop will be available for download or viewable online for one month. If you’re not able to attend but would still like access to the video, just send your enrollment tuition and the video link will be emailed to you soon after the end of the workshop.
DATE: Beginning Sunday, April 2. This workshop series will meet on the first Sunday of each month.
TIME: 2-5 PM, ET
LOCATION: For now, this is an online-only workshop series, over Zoom. All classes will be recorded, and everyone enrolled will have access to the videos to download and keep for future reference.
TUITION: 135 USD for each 3 hour workshop
Payment is accepted through Paypal or Zelle. If you don’t already have my Paypal or Zelle information, please contact me for those details. Your tuition payment is required to reserve your place in class.
TO ENROLL: Send tuition to me through Paypal or Zelle. Please complete your enrollment no later than Sunday, March 26 so I can have an accurate enrollment count before the class begins. Thanks!
Paypal: daoist1@dslextreme.com
Zelle: daoist2@dslextreme.com
Please include a note with your name and “Daoist Breathing” so I’ll know it’s from you, and for this workshop. If you're not currently on my mailing list, please make sure you include your email address with your payment so I'll be able to send you the Zoom invitation.
Your tuition reserves your place in the workshop. You’ll receive the Zoom class link by email on or around Feb. 26.
Refund Policy:
Monthly course videos will be available for download or viewing for one month, no refunds are offered after enrollment.
Dragon & Tiger Medical Qigong
For Beginners and Returning Students
Awaken your body’s innate healing wisdom with this 1,500-year-old medical qigong practice. Incorporating Daoist and Buddhist principles, its powerful yet gentle seven movements address all the internal organs and main energy pathways to help you build complete health while boosting your immune system, reducing stress, increasing energy, and promoting emotional balance and mental clarity. You will learn to feel your qi, the vital energy of life, and to discharge stagnant qi, which is the root cause of pain and most degenerative diseases. At more advanced levels of practice, Dragon & Tiger is a gateway to deeper spiritual cultivation.
This class is suitable for beginners, and for returning intermediate-level students wanting refinements to deepen their understanding and further embody the principles required in this practice. Remember that “Mastery means mastering the basics.” Everything is build from that foundation, which makes all that may follow possible.
After you have a strong foundation and are enjoying the many healing benefits of Dragon and Tiger, interested students may continue with this course to learn the deeper, advanced aspects of the practice, opening the door to spiritual cultivation.
DATE: Beginning Sunday, March 26. This workshop series will meet on the fourth Sunday of each month.
TIME: 2-5 PM, ET
LOCATION: For now, this is an online-only workshop series, over Zoom. All classes will be recorded, and everyone enrolled will have access to the videos to download and keep for future reference.
TUITION: 135 USD for each 3 hour workshop
Payment is accepted through Paypal or Zelle. If you don’t already have my Paypal or Zelle information, please contact me for those details. Your tuition payment is required to reserve your place in class.
TO ENROLL: Send tuition to me through Paypal or Zelle. Please complete your enrollment no later than Sunday, March 19 so I can have an accurate enrollment count before the class begins. Thanks!
Paypal: daoist1@dslextreme.com
Zelle: daoist2@dslextreme.com
Please include a note with your name and “Dragon and Tiger” so I’ll know it’s from you, and for this workshop. If you're not currently on my mailing list, please make sure you include your email address with your payment so I'll be able to send you the Zoom invitation.
Your tuition reserves your place in the workshop. You’ll receive the Zoom class link by email on or around March 19.
Refund Policy:
Monthly course videos will be available for download or viewing for one month, no refunds are offered after enrollment.
Special: Classes For Seniors at The Concord Council On Aging!
Dragon & Tiger Medical Qigong
Dragon & Tiger qigong is a 1,500 year old seven-movement medical qigong system with roots in Daoism and Buddhism. It’s a versatile and powerful practice, able to address numerous common medical conditions, prevent the onset of many diseases, and to promote greater health, vitality, wellbeing and longevity.
The CCOA’s policy is to only allow seniors (60+ years old) to attend the classes they sponsor, so if you’re a local senior and would like to get in-person instruction, you’re welcome to enroll in this class series.Tuition for this senior community is much lower than my standard rates, so take advantage of the opportunity to learn this valuable Chinese treasure, in person and very economically.
DATE: Fridays beginning February 24
TIME: 1:30-2:30 PM
LOCATION: The Concord Council on Aging
1276 Main St, Concord, MA 01742
TUITION:
Sponsored by the CCOA, this is a deeply discounted course series. Please call the CCOA for details.
Tuition is payable on the first day of class, but early enrollment is helpful for the CCOA to get an accurate attendance count.
TO ENROLL: Call the CCOA at 978-318-3020
More New Classes Beginning Soon!
Join my mailing list to be among the first to learn about new class offerings. Otherwise, please visit this site regularly for updates.
CONTINUING CLASSES in 2023 (Online)
The continuing classes are open only to students with some experience in these qigongs. They will remain in session approximately through the end of 2022. If you would like to join, please contact me as soon as possible to be included on the class roster. Tuition is expected no later than one week prior to each class.
All continuing classes are kept small so that everyone will get individual attention and feedback, and so I can get to everyone's questions during class. Class recordings will be made available to you for download soon after the end of each class, for your future reference.
The Marriage of Heaven and Earth Qigong
This 3,000 year old two-movement Wood Element qigong nourishes the liver, tendons and ligaments, and is used to help heal back, neck, shoulder, and neuromuscular problems. Its many internal processes (neigong) include the stretching of muscles, tendons, and ligaments, the bending and bowing of the spine, the opening and closing of joints and body cavities without engaging muscles, and increasing the ability to absorb and emit qi through the hands. It is the most extensive qigong set for learning Opening and Closing (kai he), a necessary component of all qigong longevity practices.
By working with both the Microcosmic and Macrocosmic Orbits, it helps coordinate the terrestrial and celestial ascending and descending qi flows and harmonizes the Yin and Yang energies within the body. Other special characteristics include pulling stuck qi out from the brain to promote clear thinking and mental focus, and infusing healthy qi into each organ while releasing any qi that may be bound there, for improved organ functioning. This core longevity practice dramatically increases qi throughout the entire body.
This ongoing class began in October, 2021. While this is an intermediate-level qigong practice, we’re starting from the very beginning of the form to make sure everyone has a stable foundation on which to grow in this robust and richly detailed qigong/neigong practice. It’s suitable for beginners and experienced students alike. If you have at least some experience in The Marriage of Heaven and Earth and would like to join us, please contact me.
DATE: Online classes meet on the third Sunday of each month.
TIME: 2-5 PM, ET
TUITION: $135 for each monthly workshop.
Any questions? Let me know, and I’ll get back to you usually within 24 hours.
Energy Gates Qigong, Intermediate/Advanced
The focus of this class will remain on developing Standing (zhan zhuang), Cloud Hands (Yun Shou), the First and Second Arm Swings, and the Daoist Spine Stretch. Since April of 2020 in this online class, Cloud Hands has provided the template for numerous moving neigong components. We will add some of that neigong to the Arm Swings, appropriate to each swing. (Note, the Third Arm Swing can potentially damage the knees, hips and back unless taught carefully in person, so that will not be covered online.) In April 2021, we moved from intermediate to more advanced course work with the addition of some Spiraling Energy Body material (“Energy Gates Part 2”).
This ongoing class has been in session for about four years, with some students having many more years of training and experience. It is best suited for current continuing students, and for those with at least a few years of experience in Energy Gates Qigong who are ready to deepen their Energy Gates practice.
Learn more about Energy Gates Qigong here.
Date and Time:
This class meets on the second Sunday of each month, 2-5 PM.
Tuition:
$135 monthly for each three-hour class.