Qi Gong in the Garden

This Spring Qi Gong Series will offer a morning movement practice to activate and cultivate your inner energy (qi) to fully engage with your surrounding world. Qi Gong is the somatic and energetic practice of Five Element Theory and Traditional Chinese Medicine, focusing on the longevity and vitality of the body. In this open-level class we'll hone into systems of the body (bones, organs, muscles, ligaments) as well as breath to recognize and move our qi, get grounded to focus, and build inner strength. The 45-minute practice will be an experiential time to move through the five elements both within and in the universe of the day in order to harmonize with the world of that moment. Classes will be standing, please wear comfortable clothes and shoes, and bring water.

Registration is encouraged but not required. 

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This class is taught by Laurel Atwell, an interdisciplinary performer, maker, and facilitator since graduating from Sarah Lawrence College in 2008. She has taught qi gong privately along with classes and workshops across the country; during the pandemic she taught a worldwide audience via Movement Research’s Somatic Practice programming. Atwell’s art work and collaborations have been presented at MoMA PS1, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Danspace Project, Movement Research at Judson Memorial Church, Center for Performance Research, Gibney Dance, Abrons Arts Center, Dixon Place, as part of Sundays on Broadway, Performa ’11, as well as in Los Angeles, CA, Marfa, TX, Minneapolis, MN, and New Haven, CT. She has worked with luciana achugar, Phoebe Berglund, Kim Brandt, Milka Djordjevich (for which Atwell received a 2018 Bessie nomination for her performance in ANTHEM), ryen heart, Ursula Eagly, Nikima Jagudajev, Melanie Maar, Beth Gill, Mina Nishimura, and Melinda Ring, among others. In 2022, Atwell participated in the Maumaus Independent Study Program in Lisbon, Portugal, beginning a project that attempts to decipher the new perceptions of reality, desire, and mortality thanks to the internet. Last Spring, Laurel hosted 9 weeks of performances out of her home to close out the research cycle begun at Maumaus. Laurel has been teaching qi gong for 15 years (Universal Healing Tao), and runs an apothecary out her home studio offering qi gong, Reiki, hand-poked tattoos, and divination readings.