What will I learn from Bodymind Healing Tai Chi/Qigong?

  1. You’ll expand your understanding of Tai Chi Chuan (Taiji Quan) with associations from wider cross cultural wisdom traditions.
  2. You’ll be inspired by creative and Imaginal interpretations of movements.
  3. You’ll discover how each movement has Four Purposes: Self-healing, Spiritual Unfoldment, Self-defense, and Changing your Life Stance Psychologically.

For a deeper look into my work with psychotherapy please see our companion site: www.bodymindhealing.com

Shouxing: Taoist God of Longevity

Meet Dr. Michael Mayer

Michael Mayer, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist, and Qigong/Tai Chi teacher who specializes in giving his patients self-healing methods for health problems. He pioneered the integration of Tai Chi/Qigong and psychotherapy, and presents his approach to bodymind healing at professional conferences, national/international workshops, universities, and hospitals; and he is a keynote speaker. Michael is certified as a master Tai Chi instructor by the American Tai Chi and Qigong Association.

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“In the 1970s Dr. Michael Mayer began his study of Tai Chi Chuan and Qigong with me. With continuous diligence, devotion, and skill he grows and ages with me as faithful student and friend. It delights my eyes and warms my heart to witness the masterful way Dr. Mayer creates a joining of hands between Eastern and Western spiritual traditions in this book.
Fong Ha
Internationally recognized grandmaster
of Tai Chi Chuan and Yi Chuan Qigong
{Note: Master Ha didn’t describe himself this way— he humbly described himself on the endorsement to one of my books simply as “One who practices Tai Chi and Qigong.}”
“Michael Mayer’s practical synthesis and deep knowledge of Qigong and Tai Chi movement forms has greatly impressed me during my years administering the Esalen Institute Movement Arts Program. Michael presents a very usable, spiritual approach to these ancient and very valuable systems. He has provided me with insights available from no other teacher.”
Rick Cannon
Esalen Institute, Coordinator,
Movement Arts Program
“I did not go out of our home during the daily terrorist attacks in Israel. I practiced Michael Mayer’s Bodymind Healing exercises regularly to regain my calm. They relieved my tight body and took my mind off of the stress and worries to be more present to others, to help them deal with their fears and find an oasis of tranquility in the middle of the war zone. I continue to use Bodymind Healing Qigong to ease everyday stresses and bring me back to my inner sanctuary of equanimity.”
Hana Matt
Teacher of World Religions,
Graduate Theological Union
“I liked your Bodymind Healing Qigong DVD so much that in the course I taught we started with two or three sections of it every day. It simply is a wonderful DVD.”
Bessel van der Kolk, MD
Medical Director, the Trauma Center,
Boston University School of Medicine
“A splendid break-through which will certainly contribute a new slant to meditative practice.“
Dr. Larry Dossey
Author of Reinventing Medicine 
“Drawing upon over thirty years of his psychotherapy practice and personal training, Dr. Mayer has provided a seminal contribution to the field of mind-body interventions for a wide range of common disorders, as he offers us a treasure house of energy-based practices to cultivate our self-healing powers. His book is profound in its scope, evidence based, bridges Eastern and Western traditions, and provides practical insights and skills that can be of enormous value to both individuals and organizations seeking to attain optimal health.”
Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier
clinical professor of medicine,
University of California, San Francisco 
and University of Arizona School of Medicine, 
and author of The Best Alternative Medicine: What Works? What Does Not

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Tai Chi Push:

Watch this video clip about the Four Dimensions of Purpose of the first Tai Chi movement, “Commencement.”  Learn a Tai Chi method for reversing your sympathetic nervous system reactivity when you’re afraid, triggered, or assaulted by everyday life.
Read More Tai Chi Push:
Esalen Institute Workshop- Crane Flying Qigong for Tonifying the Lung Meridian.

“The Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai Chi” (Wayne & Fuerst, 1991) says: “regular practice leads to more vigor and flexibility, better balance and mobility, and a sense of well-being. Cutting-edge research from Harvard Medical School also supports the long-standing claims that Tai Chi also has a beneficial impact on the health of the heart, bones, nerves and muscles, immune system, and the mind.”

An Educational, Integral Healing, and Training Program in Tai Chi Chuan & Qigong

Tai Chi Chuan:
Four Dimensions of Purpose

The best way to approach this program is by following the Experience Pathway in 5 steps shown below. Begin your bodymind healing journey here, and you’ll discover time-tested tools for self-healing and energy cultivation.

Introduction Video: Bodymind Healing Tai Chi Chuan
Play
Video: Shamanic and Mythic Origins of Tai Chi Chuan

An imaginal teaching story on the origins of Tai Chi Chuan.

Play
Video: Long Form of Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan

This is un-interrupted run through of all of the movements you will learn in the educational series below.

A 19 Video Series: Tai Chi Chuan

Classical Yang Style Tai Chi Long Form is taught as a tradition of “postural initiation” (Mayer 2009, 2012), into the 4 dimensions of purpose. Each class begins with a Qigong warmup and then new movements enriched with: healing practices, cross-cultural teaching stories, two-person self-defense applications, and invocations about how to change your psychological life-stance.

Learn more about the whole video series…

The Extended Short Form Qigong video perfectly complements the Tai Chi videos. Watch it before, during, or after the above videos. Some students prefer to put their training emphasis on this Qigong set versus the Tai Chi training, or find their unique preferences of how and when to combine the Qigong and Tai Chi traditions.

Learn more about the Qigong video…

Classes

Saturday Morning Zoom Tai Chi / Qigong Classes for Troubled Times

Each Saturday we’ll focus on one or two Tai Chi movements as well as immune enhancing, resiliency building (wei chi), parasympathetic nervous system enhancing elements from Bodymind Healing Qigong.

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Self Healing

Learn self-healing methods for your health issues: anxiety, chronic pain, hypertension, insomnia,  trauma, etc. Dr Michael  has developed  an integral, complementary approach, which can be integrated with your doctors and health team.

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The Path of the Reluctant Metaphysician: Stories and Practices for Troubled Times
  • Ben Franklin Award, from the Independent Book Publisher’s Association, Silver Medal in the Body, Mind & Spirit category. 
  • New England Book Festival, honorable mention in the Spiritual Books category.
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Chronic Pain

Qi Magazine: The Journal of Traditional Eastern Health, 1996.

Click to Read Article…
Tai Chi Ruler Qigong: Adapted by Dr. Michael Mayer to be an East-West healing method by incorporating this healing visualization process. If you would like to purchase the entire 8 sets of Bodymind Healing Qigong Extended Short Form, click here.