Gentle Exercises for Optimal Health

“By a wide margin, the biggest threat to our nation’s balance sheet is the skyrocketing cost of health care.”
President Barack Obama, March 2009 (reported in The New Yorker, “The Cost Conundrum”, June 1, 2009)

The World’s Population is Getting Older

An article from the Associated Press on June 23, 2009 states that the population of over-65 people in the world will triple by 2050. The estimate is that there will be over one and a half billion people 65 years old and older.
By 2030, 20 percent of people in the U. S. A. will be over 65.

How can we get people to be 65 yet younger? Read the rest of this entry »

Honoring Kiya

For those of you who have been to our place you probably remember our Alaskan Malamute Kiya. Kiya was a superb greet dog, always excited to meet and re-meet people who drove up to Axton Gardens. She would often hustle up to a car as it drove into the parking lot and do her “whoo” Malamute howl at the driver’s side door. She wanted people to get out right now to pet her.

Kiya with Robert in 2007

We had to put Kiya down this spring. She was some 13 years old and quite creaky in her last years. We believe that Kiya, in her previous home, probably didn’t get much exercise. Her joints were a pain to her for years with us. It is so important to get that exercise early in life and all through life.

Kiya was a loyal, friendly, gentle, people-loving, petting-loving companion for many years and we will miss her. Read the rest of this entry »

Qigong in the Gardens in July

Every summer for the past several years I have offered free Qigong classes. The first year I held them in Whatcom Falls Park in Bellingham. That was good, but I found it too busy and loud there by the road. And there were some crows that kept throwing down fir cones on our heads from the trees above us. Weird.

Since then I have held the free classes in my front yard amidst the natural scenery and festooned beauty of our gardens.

Axton Gardens

It is time again for the free summer classes. Qigong is such a powerful, yet approachable practice I want anyone interested to come and give it a try!

I envision a day when tens of millions of Americans are using the accessible exercises of Qigong and related arts as a primary part of their healthcare and life empowerment practices.

Get the PDF Flyer or read below. Read the rest of this entry »

Applied Knowledge Leads to Health and Power

Over my years of practicing, observing and reading about Qigong I have often observed that Qigong and Tai Chi are difficult for beginners to understand. Many forms are simply too advanced or unusual for the average Westerner to grok.

The underlying methodologies are often hidden to the uninitiated, and often not even spoken of.

Knowing what you are doing, what you are trying to accomplish, why you are doing that and how to go about it are crucial to getting the greatest benefit from your practice.

Cracking the Qigong Code

I want to crack open the secretiveness and confusing-ness; to make the subtle motions and sublime notions of Qigong come to the light of easy awareness. Read the rest of this entry »