Spring

Marriage of Heaven &
Earth Qigong

April 26 - 28, 2013
Friday thru Sunday

Stump Sprouts Retreat Center
Hawley, Massachusetts

Take a weekend away from your everyday life and retreat with us deep into nature at the serene, remote, and harmonious Stump Sprouts Retreat Center in the hills of western Massachusetts.

Everyone is welcome. We will have teachings of interest for you whether you are a Marriage of Heaven & Earth qigong beginner or a long-time practitioner.

If you are new to Heaven & Earth, then we'll teach you its foundational practices. If you have experience, then we'll help you refine and deepen the practice. During this retreat we'll have a particular focus on teaching you to "lengthen in and out" your muscles and other soft tissues while continuously sinking your chi (see What We Will Teach below).

We'll help everyone explore how to use this wonderful practice to better connect to the chi of Earth and her Spring season.

Spring is the time of the year when the energy that has moved deep within Earth and our bodies in Winter stirs and comes forth. Winter's yin sinking of energy inward and downward continues, but from within those depths yang energies emerge and move upward and outward. A new period of emergence and growth begins.

Our Taoist Water tradition and Chinese medicine five-element theory hold that in Spring the Wood elemental energy comes to the fore and is especially accessible. The Wood element is the dominant element of the plants that begin to grow in Spring.

Within the human body the Wood element especially is associated with the Liver organ system. This is the key system that allows us to naturally become more active in Spring. It is the system primarily responsible for circulating chi through the body. It helps us stretch and move better, and feel more "springy" and resilient. In this sense and others it also helps us grow in Spring.

Heaven & Earth qigong and Spring go together like hand in glove. Heaven & Earth is the qigong practice in our tradition that is spe- cifically designed to stimulate the Wood elemental energy within us. So it is best learned and works most effectively in Spring.

We’ll teach you how to practice Heaven & Earth to help Spring’s energy naturally move into and through you, in ways that can help your body, chi, emotions, mind, and even spirit start a new phase of opening and growth.

Come catch the rise of Spring with us. You'll be accompanied by a small group of 20 to 30 like-minded people, including two instructors with a deep well of experience.

You’ll enjoy good food and good company and have time to learn, relax, and open into Spring.

For more information or to register, click on one of the following topics or scroll down through all of them:

• Earth and Her Five Seasons as Our Teacher
• What is Marriage of Heaven & Earth qigong?
• Heaven & Earth Retreats - 2013/2014 Cycle
• What We Will Teach in this Retreat
• Schedule
• Location
• Travel & Directions
• Food
• Accommodations - On-Site Indoors
• Accommodations - On-Site Camping
• Accommodations - Nearby
• Fees - If You Stay On-Site
• Fees - If You Stay or Live Nearby
• Registration
• Friday Arrivals & Activities
• What to Bring or Wear
• Refund Policy

EARTH AND HER FIVE SEASONS AS OUR TEACHER

The Taoist perspective is that Earth is our “great yin” or mother from which all life in our physical world springs.

We have much to learn from her about how to live as natural beings in harmony with ourselves and the web of life she nurtures.

In particular, her Five Seasons offer us many lessons about how to let go and flow with life and change.

One of the most direct ways to study with her is to learn to feel, explore, and enhance the ways that our chi flows into her and her chi flows into us.

These flows between her and us occur directly, as well as indirectly through her web of life that surrounds us and into which we are integrally connected.

Qigong practices are a wonderful vehicle that we can use to explore these chi flows.

While most of us initially practice qigong to develop and understand our own energies, a natural outgrowth of such practice is that we begin to become aware of how we are connected to and affected by the energies of what’s around us, including Earth’s.

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WHAT IS MARRIAGE OF HEAVEN & EARTH QIGONG?

Pulsing is one of Nature's - and life's - most universal patterns of movement. Scientists studying Nature have found pulsations at all levels of the physical world, from galaxies, to Earth's ecosystems, to our own bodies, to the simplest and smallest of organisms, to the biochemical reactions within all organisms.

Similarly, Taoists practitioners have observed that the qi that nourishes our bodies moves in pulsating patterns through our bodies (up and down between Heaven and Earth), within our bodies, and in and out of our bodies. Some of these pulsations are very slow in duration, e.g. fluctuations of seasonal energies, and others are faster, e.g. the chi that moves in and out with our breath.

Marriage of Heaven & Earth qigong is the practice of the Taoist Water Method tradition through which you can most easily learn how to feel and enhance the natural physical and chi pulsations within your body, as well as connect to those of Nature moving through and around you.

Ideally it is one of the first practices that you study and one that you return to time and time again.

External Physical Movements

Heaven & Earth is a single continuous movement exercise which consists of two sections.

In the first section you circulate chi from Earth to Heaven and from Heaven to Earth. You begin by standing with your arms at your sides. You slowly circle your arms and hands up extending toward Heaven (a). You then bend your arms and touch your hands to the back of your head, and then bring your hands forward over your head (b) and down the the front of your body extending toward Earth (c).

In the second section you circulate chi from Heaven & Earth to your center, and from your center to Heaven & Earth. You slowly bend forward, bring your head down, and circle your hands up (d) toward the center of your body (e). You then raise your body and head up toward Heaven and let your arms circle and extend down toward Earth.

You perform these movements repeatedly one after the other in a rhythmical manner. In effect, your body becomes a continuously pulsating whole - through which the energies of Heaven & Earth can be "married", i.e. joined and interwoven, within you.

Internal Physical and Chi Movements

The external physical movements of Heaven & Earth are designed to emphasize and help you learn to feel and enhance the many pulsating physical and chi movements inside you. These internal movements can include:

• your soft tissues "lengthening in" toward and "lengthening out" away from the center of your body,
• your soft tissues "wrapping" forward and backward around your body,
• the fluid-filled spaces within your joints and body cavities "opening and closing", i.e. gathering in to become smaller and expanding to become bigger,
• your blood vessels and lymph nodes expanding and shrinking
• your organs pulsing more fully, whether your lungs to move more air in and out or your heart to move more blood through your body.

These physical tissue movements are all linked to and dependent on flows of chi in and out or through the physical tissues and structures involved. Thus practice of Heaven & Earth helps you to feel and move qi within and on pathways that include your:

• acupuncture and other channels along the yin and yang surfaces of the body
• wei chi
• energy gates
• macrocosmic or great heavenly orbit
• microcosmic or small heavenly orbit
• core channel
• left and right side channels
• lower dantian
• middle and upper dantians

Because the external physical movements are fairly simple, you are able to focus less on doing the movements and more on learning to feel and enhance all of the various pulsations and flows within your body that are stimulated by the movements.

As with all of the practices we teach, we'll initially teach you how to work with the pulses of the more superficial physical tissues and energy pathways of your body and gradually take you deeper and deeper within.

Physical and Chi Movements External to Us

In addition to the pulsations within our bodies, we are influenced - and naturally linked to and therefore a part of - many chi and physical pulsations that occur in the world around us.

We all are familiar with many natural physical pulsations. For example we know how outdoor temperatures and the amount of sunlight available regularly go up during the day and down at night. We know the rhythmical sounds of bird songs and ocean waves. We know how plants grow in the spring and summer and stop growing in the fall and winter. We know the phases of the moon as it waxes and wanes.

Most of us are less familiar consciously with external chi pulsations or flows, e.g. flows between Heaven & Earth, how the energy field of a tree or group of trees pulses in regular patterns, or how people exchange energy in regular rhythms.

Practice of Heaven & Earth can help you become more attuned to the rhythms and flows of chi around you. As you become more attuned to the flows inside, in and out, and through you, it's natural to extend that awareness to the outside world. This is one of our goals in teaching Heaven & Earth during a retreat to a beautiful natural setting.

Benefits of Heaven & Earth

The physical and chi pulsations within your body that we work with in Heaven & Earth are all naturally occurring. Yet with aging, illness, or injury some or all pulsations can weaken and/or become less regular. This can set the stage for a downward spiral to further illness or injury.

Practice of Heaven & Earth enables you to rebuild and strengthen your natural physical and chi pulsations and flows. This can lead to improved health - the exercise has been used in China to help people with many conditions, including arthritis. With time and practice your joints become better lubricated, your muscles less stiff, your ligaments more springy, your blood vessels more elastic, your organs more responsive, etc. And your overall energy levels and ability to get things done can rise dramatically.

You can also apply your practice of Heaven & Earth toward improved performance in many aspects of life, from physical work to meditation to sex to internal martial arts such as tai chi.

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HEAVEN & EARTH RETREATS - 2013/2014 CYCLE

During each yearly cycle of the Five Seasons, our retreats focus on one of the qigong practices from our Taoist Water tradition.

The current Heaven & Earth focused cycle will begin with this Spring 2013 retreat and conclude with a Spring 2014 retreat.

• Spring - April 26 to 28, 2013
• Summer - June 14 to 16, 2013
• Late Summer - not possible in 2013
• Fall - September 20 to 22, 2013
• Winter - December 13 to 15, 2013
• Spring - April 2014 (days to be decided)

This cycle of retreats offers you an excellent and unique way to either learn for the first time - or refine and go much deeper into - the practices of Heaven & Earth.

During the first three retreats - Spring, Summer, and Fall 2013 - we'll teach anyone new to the practices the movements of Heaven & Earth and its complementary exercise, Circling Hands.

For those with sufficient experience, we'll especially focus on the following seasonal subjects within Heaven & Earth. For each season we've chosen an aspect of Heaven & Earth practice that especially resonates with the energies that move to the fore in that season. Although in general Heaven & Earth strongly resonates with the energies of Spring, you can easily adapt it for use in other seasons as well.

• Spring 2013 - how to sink your chi down and "lengthen" your muscles and other soft tissues up, down, in, and out along all parts of your body.
• Summer 2013 - how to move from your shoulder blades, spine, hips, and kwa in a circular manner and "wrap" your muscles and other soft tissues forward and back around all parts of your body
• Fall 2013 - how to breathe within the Heaven & Earth movements and how to use the movements to improve your breathing
• Winter 2013 - how to close (gather into) and open (expand) the spaces within your joints
• Spring 2014 - how to open and close the "cavities" of your body, and play with the energy flows stimulated by the Heaven & Earth movements (earth to heaven, heaven to earth, periphery to center, center to periphery, macrocosmic orbit, microcosmic orbit, etc.)

Attend Any Retreat

Please note that you may attend any retreat in any cycle.

Each retreat will be related to the others in the series, but also will be a complete learning experience in and of itself.

Or Do The Whole Cycle

If you are able to attend all of the retreats in the cycle, you'll have the opportunity to develop a much deeper knowledge of all of the Heaven & Earth practices. You'll also have a chance to explore and experience how you can use the practices through an entire year to better keep yourself in harmony with the seasons.

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WHAT WE WILL TEACH IN THIS RETREAT

We will have three goals in this retreat:

• teach those new to Heaven & Earth its physical movements
• help those with experience to refine and deepen their Heaven & Earth practice
• help everyone learn to better use Heaven & Earth qigong to connect to the energies of Earth and Spring

For some teaching sessions, everyone will be together as one group. At other times, we’ll divide the groups according to experience and teach multiple groups simultaneously. Sometimes we may have as many as three groups to address the different needs of those with a little, some, and a lot of experience with Heaven & Earth.

For those learning Heaven & Earth for the first time, our primary focus will be on helping you learn the physical movements of the exercise well. We'll also teach you a complementary exercise called Circling Hands.

For those with experience who know the physical movements of these two exercises already, we'll either teach you or help you refine your knowledge of how to:

• Continuously sink your chi as you do the movements.

We'll help you connect into the natural downward flow of energy in your body that is most easily accessed in Winter, but which is still very strong in Spring.

As Earth's yang energy begins to stir and rise in Spring, it is easy to get carried away by it, lose your downward connection, and become uprooted and unstable. Instead, you want to maintain your yin downward connection and allow the yang to rise up through it.

• Lengthen in and out the outer layer of muscles of your upper body - or your lower body if you have experience with the upper body already.

If you're ready to lengthen at a deeper level in your body than the superficial muscles, we'll help you determine the appropriate layer of tissues.

Lengthening in and out is a very important energetic practice that is best learned in the Spring when the wood energy of the liver - which strongly influences your muscles and other soft tissues- is most active.

Lengthening your tissues is like stretching but is done through letting go of any strength or tension in those tissues and by directly moving energy through them with your mind.

Lengthening in brings more energy into your body, and lengthening out sends more energy away from your body.

• Improve how well you do your movements so that you can more easily do the lengthening in and out.

With everyone we'll explore how to connect to the energies of Earth and Spring. Topics explored may include how to:

• generally tune into and be present with your surroundings, especially Earth, trees, and other plants.

• engage your senses in that process, especially seeing - the sense most connected to the liver, the wood element, and Spring

• feel and distinguish the qualities of the energies that are naturally most active in Spring, both outside you and within you

• use the Heaven & Earth exercise to enhance and balance your exchange of energy with the natural environment

• use the energies of Spring to help you find greater harmony with the environment around you and the energies within you

• better understand how our Taoist Water tradition and Chinese Medicine conceives of the energies of Spring, which is considered to be the time when the Wood element comes to the fore

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SCHEDULE

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LOCATION

Stump Sprouts Retreat Center

• 64 West Hill Road, Hawley, MA 01339
• www.StumpSprouts.com
• stumpsprouts@stumpsprouts.com
• (413) 339-4265 - ask for Lloyd or Suzanne

We’re thrilled to have found Stump Sprouts. It’s a very, very special place.

When you get there, you’ll find a place that’s vibrant and alive.

Through over 30 years of love and hard work, our hosts, Lloyd and Suzanne, have created a comfortable, simple, hand-crafted place of learning and lodging that is a model of harmony and sustainability.

Stump Sprouts is a jewel of a place, Its buildings sit on the shoulder of a tall hill and look out over a high meadow to forestland beyond and below. From those buildings you have access to the Center’s 350 acres, through which you are free to ramble.

Stump Sprouts pulses with the rhythms of life.  Earth’s seasons flow through in timeless cycles. There is much to learn about chi here.

Ours will be the only group at the Center this weekend, which will enhance our sense of retreat even more.

For more information on the Stump Sprouts Retreat Center, visit www.StumpSprouts.com.

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TRAVEL & DIRECTIONS

Stump Sprouts is located 2 hours and 30 minutes by car west of Boston and 3 hours and 45 minutes north of New York City.

Directions to Stump Sprouts: Please click here and read carefully the information provided by Lloyd and Suzanne.

Travel Assistance / Ride Sharing: We’re sorry, but at this time, we do not have the staffing we need to be able to help you organize your travel to and from Stump Sprouts.

We do encourage you to organize ride sharing with your friends, if you can. As we get close to the time of the retreat, we will make an effort to connect folks who'd like to give or receive a ride.

We understand the tension between trying to retreat to nature and having to drive a car in order to do so. Over time we hope to find ways to ease this tension.

Nearest Airport:  Bradley International Airport (BDL) between Hartford, CT and Springfield, MA (1.5 hours away by car)

Nearest Train Station: Springfield or Amherst, MA (both 1 hour away by car)

Nearest Bus Station: Northampton, MA or Greenfield, MA (both 45 minutes away by car)

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FOOD

Lloyd and Suzanne have been preparing food for groups for 25 years.

They specialize in home-grown or locally produced food whenever possible.

Meals are made from scratch and feature fresh fruits and vegetables.

For each meal they provide a wide variety of foods, including vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options.

At some meals there will be meat available for those who eat it.

If you have other dietary needs, before you register please contact Lloyd directly and he will tell you what, if anything, he can do for you.

You can contact Lloyd at (413) 339-4265 or stumpsprouts@stumpsprouts.com

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ACCOMMODATIONS - ON-SITE INDOORS

You may attend the retreat and stay indoors on-site as described in this section, camp on-site in a tent, or stay or camp off-site at accommodations nearby. The accommodations indoors at Stump Sprouts are rather rustic, so some people prefer to stay nearby.

Please direct all questions about on-site indoor lodging or camping to us at Toward Harmony. Please DO NOT contact Stump Sprouts.

Rooms and bedding are simple, very relaxed, clean, and comfortable. The mattresses are thin so if you like a softer bed please bring extra cushioning to put on your bed.

All rooms have a double bed in them, and most have a single or bunk bed as well.

We will house two people per room. Each person in a room will have their own bed.

If you stay on-site, then all of your meals will be provided, including: dinner on Friday evening; breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Saturday, and breakfast and lunch on Sunday.

If you wish to share a room with someone you know, then each of you when you register should let us know that is your preference. If the two of you wish to share a double bed, then also please let us know that and we'll honor your request, if possible.

Some rooms have three or four beds, so if you'd like to share a room with two or three other people who you know, each of you when you register should let us know.

You will need to bring your own pillow, towel, and sheets and blankets (or sleeping bag). Exceptions will be made for those traveling by air or other public transportation.

Please let us know when you register if you have reasons for not being able to bring yours.

During cold weather Stump Sprouts is heated entirely with wood. It is cozy but not tropical. Please bring extra blankets if you tend to get chilly in the night.

Bathrooms are unisex, and accommodate 1 person at a time.

3 to 4 people will share each bathroom / shower.

We will do our best to honor requests of couples wishing to stay together, or others who wish to room together.

Unless otherwise requested, we will house women with women and men with men.

The earlier you register, the more likely we’ll be able to honor your request.

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ACCOMMODATIONS - ON-SITE CAMPING

You may attend the retreat and camp in a tent on-site as described in this section, stay on-site indoors, or stay or camp off-site at accommodations nearby.

Please direct all questions about on-site indoor lodging or camping to us at Toward Harmony. Please DO NOT contact Stump Sprouts.

On the Stump Sprouts property there are several gorgeous spots available for tent camping.

If you'd like to bring your tent and use one of these spots, then please register for on-site tent camping.

If you camp on-site, then all of your meals will be provided, including: dinner on Friday evening; breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Saturday, and breakfast and lunch on Sunday.

You also will have access to the bathrooms and showers in the Stump Sprouts lodge and farmhouse.

Please be sure that you have good equipment and are an experienced tent camper, because we likely will not have room for you indoors once you commit to camping. If we have extreme weather that would make it dangerous you to be outdoors in a tent, then you will be allowed to sleep on the floor in a common area of the lodge or farmhouse.

The fees for staying indoors on-site or camping on-site are the same.

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ACCOMMODATIONS - NEARBY

You may attend the retreat and stay or camp off-site at accommodations nearby as described in this section or stay indoors or camp in a tent on-site at Stump Sprouts. The accommodations at Stump Sprouts are rather rustic, so some people prefer to stay nearby.

Bed and Breakfasts

There are various small "bed and breakfast" accommodations near Stump Sprouts.

To date, there are two that our students have tried and liked. They are in the neighboring town of Charlemont, 7 miles away, a 15-minute drive.

Hawk Mountain Lodge - (800) 532-7483 -
               www.hawkmountainlodge.com

Oxbow Resort Motel - (413) 625-6011 -
               www.oxboxresortmotel.com

There are others in the area that neither we nor our students have tried yet, such as the Cavalier Cottage on the outskirts of Charlemont (www.cavaliercottage.com)

Camping

There are a few places to camp near Stump Sprouts that we have identified. Both are in the neighboring town of Charlemont, 7 miles away, a 15-minute drive. None of our students have tried them yet.

Mohawk Trail State Forest -
                http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/western/mhwk.htm

Country Aire Campground - 413-625-2996 -                 www.countryairecampground.com

Meals

If you stay off-site, then the following meals will be provided for you at Stump Sprouts: dinner on Friday evening; lunch on Saturday, and lunch on Sunday.

When you register you'll be offered an option to purchase additional meals to eat on-site. Saturday dinner costs $15. Saturday and Sunday breakfasts cost $8 each.

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FEES - IF YOU STAY ON-SITE

We can accommodate only 18 people on-site at Stump Sprouts, with instruction, all meals, and lodging provided.

So please register early to ensure you will have a spot.

For information on Day Use Fees, please click here.

Full On-Site Fee - Instruction, Food & Lodging

• $395 if you pay by April 7
• $435 if you pay after April 7

Discounted On-Site Fee - for those eligible

• $345 if you pay by April 7
• $380 if you pay after April 7

You are eligible for these discounted rates if:

• your total family income (before deductions) is less than $40,000 a year, OR
• you are a full-time student, OR
• you are a combat veteran

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FEES - IF YOU STAY OR LIVE NEARBY

You may attend the retreat on a day use basis.

For the fees listed below, we'll provide you with instruction, dinner on Friday, and lunches on Saturday & Sunday. You provide your own accommodations off-site, your breakfasts, and your own Saturday dinner.

If you like, you may purchase additional meals to eat on-site. Saturday dinner costs $15. Saturday and Sunday breakfasts cost $8 each.

Full Day Use Fee: Instruction & One Meal a Day

• $330 if you pay by April 7
• $365 if you pay after April 7

Discounted Day Use Fee - for those eligible

• $280 if you pay by April 7
• $310 if you pay after April 7

You are eligible for these discounted rates if:

• your total family income (before deductions) is less than $40,000 a year, OR
• you are a full-time student, OR
• you are a combat veteran

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REGISTRATION

You may register for this event online or by phone.

Last Day to Register

Registration will close at midnight on Tuesday, April 23, or sooner if we run out of spaces.

If you are interested in registering after April 23, please contact us (413-586-8880 or info@towardharmony.com) to inquire about whether any special arrangements are possible.

Online Registration

When you register online you may:

• pay online with a credit card;
• pay online with a PayPal account; or
• send us a check, unless you register after April 14.

If you register after April 14, you must pay either with a credit card or a PayPal account or contact us (413-586-8880 or info@towardharmony.com) to make special arrangements.

Please CLICK HERE TO REGISTER ONLINE for this retreat.

Phone Registration

You may call us at 413-586-8880 and register by phone.

You may pay with a credit card or PayPal account. If you do, your payment will be paid through PayPal, just as if you had registered online.

If you register on or before April 15 you may also pay us with a check, which must be sent to us so that it arrives within 4 business days after you register.

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FRIDAY ARRIVALS AND ACTIVITIES

We encourage you - if at all possible - to arrive, check in, and get settled into your accommodations between 4:30 and 5 p.m. on Friday.

This will allow you to see, greet, and get your feet on the land during daylight, so that you will have a good sense of place before going to bed on Friday night.

From 5:30 to 6:45 we will hold the first group session of the retreat. Attendance at this session is required if you are a beginner. It is highly encouraged if your are experienced. We will offer the following:

• For Beginners: an introduction to Marriage of Heaven & Earth qigong with initial instruction for its starting standing posture and its companion Circling Hands exercise.
• For Those with Experience: personal feedback on your Heaven & Earth practices, including suggestions for physical and energetic refinements

Our first group session that we expect everyone will attend will be after dinner.

Dinner will be held from 7 to 8, and we’ll hold the next group learning session from 8:15 to 9:45 p.m.

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WHAT TO BRING

Please Bring

• pillow
• sheets and blankets or sleeping bag
• towel
• warm clothes, including layers (average Spring temperatures range from the 30’s at night to the 50’s and 60’s during the day)
• slippers or heavy socks (we will have indoor sessions without shoes)
• outdoor shoes/boots
• outdoor clothing, including rain gear (We will hold some outdoor practice sessions. If it is raining during those sessions, you will have the option to practice outside or in. If you opt to practice outside, you’ll need rain gear.)
• flashlight
• sunscreen
• water-bottle or travel mug
• personal toiletries
• insect repellant

Please DO NOT bring

• Fragrances or scented body products, to which some of our students are very sensitive
• Alcohol or recreational drugs (these interfere with your ability to learn to feel chi clearly)

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REFUND POLICY

• If you pay for the retreat and are not able to attend due to an illness, emergency, or other circumstances beyond your control, and we are able to to fill your space with another student, then we will refund in full the fee you paid, minus a $100 administrative fee. If we are not able to fill your space, then we will refund half of your fee.

• If you pay for the retreat and decide not to attend for any other reason, if we are able to fill your space with another student, then we will refund in full the fee you paid, minus a $100 administrative fee. Otherwise, we will not refund any of your fee.

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