8-Month Qi Immersion Program
An Exploration in Qigong, Meridians, Energy Anatomy, Taoist Philosophy & Meditation
Imagine a whole day once a month dedicated to Qi and nourishing life practices! Well here it is! :) This immersion class is one Saturday a month. Classes started Saturday, 9/24.
(Note: this is my dog Stella and she is a Master of Qi Immersion - gleefully immersing herself in alpine lakes and mountain QI! :))
Topics include:
- Qigong fundamentals and practices,
- The energetic anatomy of the body,
- Meridian maps and useful acupressure points,
- How to harmonize the body with daily, seasonal and celestial rhythms for optimal health and wellbeing, and much more! :)
9:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. one Saturday a month for 8 months:
- 9/24, 10/22, 11/27 (this is a Sunday), 12/10, 1/21, 211, 3/11, 4/29
Note: My husband Nate Summers and I are teaching this class together :-)
Air Bending & the Goddess Circle Walk: Bagua Zhangwith Karen Joy Fletcher
Saturday, February 18, 2017, 9a.m. - 12:30 p.m. at 25th Annual Women of Wisdom Conference
9600 North College Way, Seattle, WA 98103
As humans we have a natural born responsibility of physical and spiritual caretakers for our Earth. As women and natural peacemakers, our prayers honoring the Mystery, Magic and Beauty of Life are powerful and essential. In this workshop, we'll learn the basic 8 forms of an ancient Daoist circle walking practice, Bagua Zhang. It's based on the 8 Trigrams, the foundation of the Yi Jing (Book of Changes). The written Yi Jing teaches the way of Heaven and Earth; the moving form, Bagua, moves Heaven and Earth through and around you. Harmonizing our own energies with the 8 fundamental energies of the Cosmos, Bagua is a powerful dance, prayer, ritual and offering. This is the dance I did at my wedding and do often in the Wild.
Here's a link to a radio interview on the workshop too on Transformation Talk Radio.
Staffs & Hammers of the Wise Wild Women
3-hour workshop at 2016 Women of Wisdom Conference
Sat 2/13 9a-12p at North Seattle Community College
Workshop descriptionDo you love forests? Do you love to dance? Do you enjoy the mystery of alchemizing beauty, wisdom and wildness through our bodies? This is the heart of the practices of Qigong, Earthgym and Ritual! Learn a nourishing qigong warm-up and open your qi flow to activate your body's wisdom. Using talisman tools of Nordic women ancestors—staffs and iron hammers—we discover fundamental movements/katas, developing rhythm, rapport, and repetition, and end by entering into the gateway and alchemy of ritual. All fitness levels are welcome. Create a ritual of celebration and transformation to ripple your blessings out across our Lands.
Toning with Stone ~ 2-hour Earthgym Workshop
Sat 11/21 from 10am - 12 noon at Tolt McDonald Park, Carnation, WA
Before we head into the holidays, I'm excited to offer a 2-hour Earthgym workshop focused on Stone training on Sat 11/21 from 10am - 12 noon at Tolt McDonald Park. We'll meet by the big Douglas Fir tree close to the red barn (Red barn will be on your right as you come down the main road into the park :) -- there is parking by the barn...and from there you'll see the tree.)
This will be a traveling class in that we'll start with a qigong warm-up and then we'll be traveling to different parts of the park to explore some of the Earth tools, with an emphasis on stone training - toning with Stone.
Bring/wear typical NW layered attire :)
Class is $15-20, and no one is turned away for lack of funds.
For more info on Earthgym training, you can see some blogs I've written on www.theEarthgym.com and www.MickDodge.com
I'm excited to share more of this simple powerful, playful and purposeful practice!!
May 9 & 10, 2015 ~ 10a – 5p, plus FREE Friday night intro 7-8:30p
It’s time to ring, sling and fling! Let’s tune and tone with the ways of the Hammer.
Have you heard the Earth Song? Do you feel it in your bones and tissues, coursing through your blood and rising through the mist of your voice? She sings, inviting us to come home… into her Forests and Mountains, Nature’s training halls of alchemy, mystery, joy and awe. Everyone’s path may be different yet our journeys all begin with our own 2 feet. “Follow your feet and the Earth will teach.” This is our mantra.
Join Mick Dodge, the Barefoot Sensei on May 9th and 10th at Our Sacred Acres in Snohomish, WA as he shares his wisdom, humor and skill mused through his muscles through decades of footing his path in the Lands of OM (Olympic Mountains), attuning his song with the Earth’s song.
While there are single day options, we encourage you to experience the full two days of training outdoors as Mick will present different Earth Gym practices each day along with a focus on the Hammer talisman, one of the training tools of our ancestors. This is a tool for building our own muscle tone and ringing out and pulling in the Earth Song and teachings. The Hammer combines the Earth tools of stone and stick and releases the power of the staff. It’s a powerful alchemy – merging our matter into the heart of the matter, the iron core matter of our Earth.
Here's a fun promo video where Mick shares what you'll learn at this workshop:
Here's a fun promo video where Mick shares what you'll learn at this workshop:
Earth Gym uses simple tools of the Forest to cleanse, shape, tone and strengthen our bodies. As we do this, we naturally pull in the Earth’s song, our ancestors’ ways, and muse in the mysteries of Life. We ground, grip and GRIN, and bring happiness back into our Happy Soles!
All levels are welcome!
Childcare offered at Our Sacred Acres J
In honor of Mother’s Day and Mama Earth, all Moms get early bird price! J
Details:
When: Friday May 8, 6:30-8 p.m. FREE Intro in Seattle at the Taoist Studies Institute, 225 N. 70th St., Seattle, WA;
Workshop Saturday and Sunday, May 9 & 10, 10a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Our Sacred Acres, 1110 Carlson Rd. Snohomish, WA 98290
It is super MAGICAL here!! Come ready to be enchanted, as that is a key to the practice, and this land and her waters are dripping with mystery and delight! And it’s only a 45 min beautifully stunning drive from Seattle on a clear day :) www.oursacredacres.com
What to Bring: Lunch and snacks, water bottle and layers of clothes, rain gear, thermos, your happy feet and beautiful You!
Investment
- $279
- $155 one-day Sat or Sun option
- Register here: http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07ear7ldsge33ad016&llr=ebolr7qab
- Note that 3 dorm-style beds and 2 camping space options are available for people traveling from out of town on a first come, first serve basis. Info on registration page.
MORE on MICK...
Mick Dodge, known as the Barefoot Sensei, is footing his way back with a vision, a calling and a practice to share from the Mountains. Throughout the 63 years of his beautiful life, he has footed his path in between our 3 terrains – the city, the open fenced lands and the gated wild – this is the figure 8 path of going there and back again. He has trained in 8 ways, emerging in the center with the 9th…training first as a bare soled athletic, then as a bare soled ascetic, and a bare soled artisan crafting his own earth tools and footwear to foot into the forest. He then continued as a bare soled alchemist learning the Mountain’s mystical laws of shapeshifting and transformation, and deepening this alchemy as a bare soled bard, footing his language and musing the landuage. Then becoming a bare soled nomad, he trained to make sense of and transform the sad and mad through seeking out the not mad and finding the glad. This path made him aware of his deep sense of care and the time to share…stepping into being a bare soled sensei and sharing his practice. His musing and pull in the Earth song has become ever stronger as he continued to then train in the 8th way, as his bare soled name…musing the meaning and becoming his name, Mick Dodge and dodging the game of the shame, blame and fame and growing his strong his inner flame. And now coming into the center, the middle practice of the bare soled nome…the “no me”, he trains of entering further into Middle Earth, loosing the “me” – coming into “no me” for the forest to “show me” to “Know ME” (Mother Earth). This is his path he has footed in our wild lands and steps the figure 8 journey to spread his care and share. His musings come deep from the Land and waters of the Hoh.
Additional info Earth Gym and Mick:
- theEarthGym.com and OurSacredAcres.com and QiDancing.com
- Article on Hammer Training: Hammering ~ My First Dance
- Two articles on Mick with stunning photos from Reno Tahoe Tonight magazine J
o February 2015 edition http://issuu.com/
Join Mick Dodge on the Primal, Practical Playfulness of our Earth Gym!
Our Earth Gym is Everywhere!
Tools of the Quest ~ Earth Gym Play Date
Tools for Toning, Tuning & Alchemizing with the Powers of Nature
Saturday, April 4, 2015, 9:30a.m.-5p.m.
at Our Sacred Acres, 1110 Carlson Rd. Snohomish, WA
with Karen Joy Fletcher & Danielle Gennety
Spring has sprung. She is early this year. Snow fall is low, the sun shines bright and the waters flow is light. Times are changing. The Earth is shifting and now is the time to listen, learn, muse and merge with our Earth Mother. How can we join her, celebrate her, learn from and with her new and old ways of living lightly, and creating beauty? Our Earth teaches through her matter about what matters. We are matter and must muse and train, tone our own matter and become strong, using our senses, our breath, body, bones and desire to make sense again…alchemize what we hold within. As John Muir said, “going out, I found, is really going in.” In the Earth Gym we train with Mother Earth until we become as Mother Earth. We train with the Forest until we become as the Forest; we train with the Water until we become as the Water and we train with the Mountain until we become as the Mountain.
These training tools ~ stone, stick, rope, sacks, hammers, bows ~ these are the tools of our ancestors, tools of the forests and they have so much to teach. Plus it is a fantastically mystical, fun, playful and ever transformational journey and discovery.
Saturday, April 4 from 9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. DaniBelle and Karen Joy, both long-time friends and students of Barefoot Sensei Mick Dodge and Master OG (Old Growth) are offering a “Tools of the Quest ~ Earth Gym Play Date” at Our Sacred Acres in Snohomish. The mountains are calling, and the trails to the magical places are open. In this playshop, you’ll:
- Learn and experience the basic foundations of our Earth Gym training tools along with some qigong fundamentals
- Recover and discover our barefoot step (in the beauty of these mossy forest floors!)
- Train in the forest with sticks, staffs and wands
- Tone with stones
- Weave with ropes
- Fill your sacks with tools to take on a mini quest and tools you can journey and alchemize with in the Old Growth cathedrals and alpine wonderlands of the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
Earth Gym is a blend of the primal, practical and play!!!
Details:
Time: Saturday, April 4, 2015 from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Arrive at 9:30, begin at 10 a.m. Bring your own lunch as we’ll eat on site.
Where: Our Sacred Acres, 1110 Carlson Rd., Snohomish, WA 98290
It is super MAGICAL here!! Come ready to be enchanted, as that is a key to the practice, and this land and her waters are dripping with mystery and delight! And it’s only a 45 min beautifully stunning drive from Seattle on a clear day :)
What to Bring: Lunch, snacks, waterbottle and layers of clothes, rain gear, thermos, your happy feet and beautiful You!
Investment: $55-$88 sliding scale. This event helps support the beautiful Lands of OSA ~ Our Sacred Acres and the newly formed non-profit dedicated to providing a place and tools to touch back into our Earth, live in a creative, sustainable and joy-filled way and to recover and reclaim the ancient musing ways of our ancestors. Register online.
Times are changing and our Earth has so much to teach and share. Let’s listen, muse through our muscles, regain our strength, vision, purpose on how we can best serve all our relations and the continuation of an ever more beautiful 7 generations.
These are tools you can use anywhere….and many, many magical doors will open onto you.
“Follow your feet and the Earth will teach.” ~ Mick Dodge
Qigong & the Goddess ~ Learning Directly from Nature
with Karen Joy Fletcher ~ 3-hour workshop, Sat 2/14/15 from 9am - 12pm at Women of Wisdom Conference, Seattle
I'm excited to be presenting at the 23rd annual Women of Wisdom Conference in Seattle! Here's a description of my 3-hour workshop:
What is it about Nature that calls to our souls? Why do so many enlightened sages throughout time and place come from the mountains? Nature reflects back to us our inner wildness and true nature. Qigong, an ancient yet evolving Chinese form of breath, meditation and movement rooted in Taoist, Buddhist and Shamanic traditions, provides tools to touch deeply into and receive the inner alchemy of Nature. In this session, we will practice both in and outdoors, gaining simple yet powerful exercises to learn directly from one of our greatest bearers of Light, our Goddess Mother Earth.
More info.
Go here to sign up for this event.
More info on the 2015 Women of Wisdom Conference at North Seattle Community College, Thursday 2/12 - Monday 2/16.
Shapeshifting & Barefoot EarthWisdom
at Omega Institute, NY ~ May 23-26, 2014
Llyn Roberts & Karen Fletcher
Many cultures believe we are in the midst of a transformation of consciousness unlike any humankind has experienced. In this experiential workshop, we integrate modern and indigenous approaches from diverse cultures with simple movement forms that integrate body, mind, heart, ancestors, and the Earth to enter sacred time and tap into the deep wisdom available to us now.
In restoring our connection with the Earth and by applying powerful shamanic techniques to access expanded realities, we can shapeshift our bodies, mindsets, and the cultural story. Together we:
- Retrieve power, wisdom, and heal with spiritual guides, stone beings, and tree people
- Practice soft, strong, and sensory walking to recover our natural footing on the land
- Empower higher purpose through life-shifting Siberian and Mayan fire ceremonies
- Restore movement patterns that open us to communicate with and be guided by the Earth
- Absorb and direct natural power that surrounds us all the time
Be inspired to recover your passion and cocreate a world that will nurture us, the Earth, and future generations.
More info and registration at Omega's website.
Women of Wisdom Conference 2014
Qigong & Mother Nature
Sunday, Feb 16 5-6 p.m.
Come join me for my Qigong at the Women of Wisdom Conference
North Seattle Community College, 9600 College Way North, Seattle
Qigong (pronounced “chee-gung”) is an ancient and evolving Chinese system of breath, meditation and movement. It is comprised of simple, yet powerful exercises that cleanse and develop our physical, energetic and spiritual anatomies. Born from observing the power, harmony, wildness and cycles of nature, qigong gives us tools to receive from nature and cultivate these qualities in ourselves. This session will cover what qigong is, the benefits of practice, simple yet profound exercises and how to use these to give and receive in Nature, plus resources to learn more. The practice of qigong opens a pathway of adventure and discovery in both our inner and outer wilderness, and leads to lifetime of vitality and wellbeing. Register here ($5 WOW members; $10 non-member. Men welcome)
Qigong & Wilderness Adventures
Come to CHINA!
This fall I and my colleague, Szu-ting Yi are co-leading to Qigong & Wilderness treks of a LIFETIME in the Western Wild Lands of China. These treks will be in:
- the stunning and magical mountains of the Tibetan Plateau in Sichuan Province, China
- the mystical and exquisite lands “south of the clouds” in Yunnan Province, China.
Both are active, cultural journeys. Both will immerse you in the local flora, fauna, and majesty of these mountain wilderness terrains as well as the cultural and culinary flavors. Both include adventure, trekking and optional daily qigong practice and instruction.
As I’ve shared with my local Qigong & Wilderness hikes and backpacking adventures, qigong practice is a powerful way to both cultivate your own health and vitality, as well as develop your spirit and soul. In the Pacific Northwest (home of our Misty Mountains), I offer qigong as a way to tap into our teachings of our local Wild Lands. In China, we will be using these practices to tap into the teachings of the vast Lands of the Far East.
China, the home of a most powerful system of Chinese Medicine, of Qigong, of Daoism and many mystical arts, is born from its Lands, its mountains, rivers, trees, gorges, plateaus, and is channeled through its people. Qigong is one simple and profound practice to develop our innate abilities to more fully receive from our environment, our Earth – both energy and information – Qi. Come receive, experience, and explore in ancient, yet ever-evolving magnificent terrain!
Join us for a journey of a lifetime!
Plus the food in China is FABULOUS!!! :) –And you’ll have both Szu-ting and me to be your interpreters!
We will only take up to 8 people on each trip. Contact us with any questions.
See more information at LittlePo.com
Beach Training! 1/2 Day Earth Gym Training at Discovery Park
Yahoo! Let's train at the BEACH!
Join me in a 1/2 day of training, Saturday May 14th at Discovery Park from 1 - 4 p.m.
We'll be engaged in our Earth Gym: natural running, beach running (this is the BEST!), stone toning, tree-weaving with ropes and more. Tap into and cultivate your natural strength and vitality! We'll also be drawing on fundamental and powerful qigong exercises throughout.
This is a 3-hour commitment rain or shine from 1-4 p.m. and it will be a BLAST!
Come prepared to train, feel your exuberance and have lots of FUN.
Investment is $25-$30. Register with me to confirm a spot.
Location: Discovery Park - meet at the So. Parking LotFor an ongoing taste of this training, come join my Qigong with Trees ~ Explore Your Earth Gym weekly outdoor class at Green Lake Park on Tuesdays from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Please RSVP beforehand if you plan to attend.
* Here's the Facebook link: http://www.facebook.com/
* Here's a youtube video of one of my Qigong with Trees classes:http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Join me in a 1/2 day of training, Saturday May 14th at Discovery Park from 1 - 4 p.m.
We'll be engaged in our Earth Gym: natural running, beach running (this is the BEST!), stone toning, tree-weaving with ropes and more. Tap into and cultivate your natural strength and vitality! We'll also be drawing on fundamental and powerful qigong exercises throughout.
This is a 3-hour commitment rain or shine from 1-4 p.m. and it will be a BLAST!
Come prepared to train, feel your exuberance and have lots of FUN.
Investment is $25-$30. Register with me to confirm a spot.
Location: Discovery Park - meet at the So. Parking LotFor an ongoing taste of this training, come join my Qigong with Trees ~ Explore Your Earth Gym weekly outdoor class at Green Lake Park on Tuesdays from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Please RSVP beforehand if you plan to attend.
* Here's the Facebook link: http://www.facebook.com/
* Here's a youtube video of one of my Qigong with Trees classes:http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Explore Your Earth Gym ~ FREE Seattle Citywide Play Date
Saturday April 2nd, 10 a.m. - 12 noon at Green Lake Park, Bath House Theater
Explore your Earth Gym!! Similar to the concept of kids having play dates with friends, we're hosting the 2nd FREE citywide play date for people of ALL ages in Seattle. This event is to get people outside moving, playing, interacting with and exploring our natural Earth Gym (our parks, trees, stones, lakes, fields, sticks/staffs) - which is really everywhere. Too many people put off exercising because it's boring and/or is just a time to "zone-out" at the gym. Let's show another way to get in shape, have a whole lot of FUN and be outside in our natural environment!
We'll have:
We'll have:
*Earth Gym training --- staff dancing, natural running, stone-toning, tree-weaving with ropes, and tree climbing
*Parkour activities -- great techniques for running, jumping, moving through our natural and city terrain with ease and ninja-like flare!
*Crazy-fun outdoor games interspersed through our 2 hours together
*Outdoor boogie dance! Whee!
This event also ties in with our nation's larger public health movement, "Let's Move" to end obesity. The more people play, and especially outside, the happier, vital, strong and exuberant they'll be!
Please spread the word and feel free to cross post on other sites, blogs, etc! :) This will be so much FUN!! Play as if your life depends on it, ...because it DOES!
18th Annual Women of Wisdom Conference
Feb. 14, 1:30-4:30 p.m.
Karen Fletcher and Kris Steinnes
Experience being fully expressed through your voice, language and movement. Discover your purpose and embrace your strength within as you connect with the tools that are inherently yours. Through qigong movement, meditation, writing, speaking and conscious language exercises we will celebrate as powerful women to bring forth our gifts to the world!
See Women of Wisdom website: www.womenofwisdom.org
QIGONG RETREAT at Breitenbush Hot Springs, Oregon - October 8-11, 2009
ZY Qigong: The 7,000 Year Old Practice
Qi (vital energy) is the web connecting the body and mind, holding a record of all one’s physical, emotional and spiritual lessons. This map determines how we think, heal, live and die.
Claire Johnson, the main teacher for this retreat, is known for her presence in guiding students into their own innate power and their own extraordinary abilities, gaining mastery of their health, happiness and life. Students often say they have "experienced something (they have) never experienced before."
Karen Fletcher will offer morning qigong sessions, qidancing, and qigong with stones by the river.
Using simple, gradually evolving qigong movements, sounds, breathing and meditation, she brings people into a profound state of release, changing patterns in their physical, emotional, mental and spiritual being spontaneously that they thought were "impossible" and "miraculous". These tangible understandings empower students in healing themselves, and in healing others.
Students and practitioners of all levels receive what they need from the direct transmission of this ancient system.
Email us for information or questions. To register, call Breitenbush at 503-854-3320.
Tuition $300 ($360 after September 8) plus lodging (see Breitenbush's website for the workshop's description, lodging options and costs).Conscious Language™ DVD Gathering - Friday April 24th 7-9 p.m.
The Words we speak create the house we live in...We are what we are conscious of being.
Language shapes our thought and thought shapes our reality. By changing one word in our application of language, we can potentially rearrange an entire 'chunk' of our reality -- this can be a profoundly emotional, fulfilling and enriching experience.
Come remember and celebrate the Power of our Words. I'll be introducing Conscious Language, sharing some from my own personal experience, study and training with Robert Tennyson Stevens, founder of Conscious Language and Mastery Systems, Corp., and how I incorporate Conscious Language and the principles of Mastery into my life -- my teaching, my Qigong practice, my dance and all I do and Am.
This night, we'll watch one of Robert's Conscious Language DVDs with some time for discussion at the end. In the DVD, Robert introduces Conscious Language and simple and effective tools to use immediately in front of a live studio audience -- He is fun, has great humor and is a powerful teacher/facilitator. You will also see him coach/facilitate people in the audience.
This is the 2nd of many more DVD nights to come. Contact me at karen.dancingqi@gmail.com to RSVP and for directions. Also, you can sign up on the Seattle Conscious Language Community Meetup group to receive notification of these and other Conscious Language events and classes.For additional information on classes, public talks and individual coaching/study in Conscious Language and Outcome Facilitation, Sacred Body Language Translation, and Bio-Optic Holography, contact me by email or phone at 206-713-5147.17th Annual Women of Wisdom Conference, February 12-16, 2009
Building Bridges for Global Community
This is an amazing conference with a wealth of internationally and locally known presenters such as Starhawk and Ubaka Hill.
I’ll be presenting on two days:
- Teen Day for young women, 13-18 years of age; 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday 2/14 – I'm offering 2 sessions – one on Qigong and Movement and the other on Conscious Language. Other sessions include: singing and chanting, belly dancing, creating dream boards and creative writing. These teens will also be creating a performance from their day-long experiences to present in the evening.
- Qigong Movement – Sunday, 2/15 from 5-6 p.m.
For full conference details on workshops, concerts, performances, classes, goddess market and more, see Women of Wisdom's website.
______________________________
Conscious Language & Sacred Body Language:
FREE Intros with Robert Tennyson Stevens
Wednesday, March 4, 7-10 p.m.
1336 Carleton St. (between Sacramento & San Pablo)
Berkeley, CA 94702
(Go to the yoga studio behind the house; enter the side gate at the driveway and walk back.)
Co-sponsored by Walking Mountain (www.WalkingMountain.org)
More event info and directions
Co-sponsored by Walking Mountain (www.WalkingMountain.org)
More event info and directions
Thursday, March 5th, 7-10 p.m.
Join Robert Tennyson Stevens to discover this powerful system for identifying and transforming your limiting beliefs and behaviors into strong foundations for success. You'll learn key elements of Conscious Language (speaking the language of our hearts, what we choose, and what is) and Sacred Body Language Translation (how our subconscious constantly speaks to us with every movement, gesture, symptom) and other tools to quickly and easily upgrade your life. Explore the profound possibility of how you create your reality with every word you think, speak, and feel...and how you can consciously create your fulfilled Life - with fun and ease! See www.masterysystems.com for more information.
This will be a highly experiential, profound and fun evening! All are welcome to attend.
This will be a highly experiential, profound and fun evening! All are welcome to attend.
Igniting Our Energetic Presence: Transforming into Our True Being
This retreat is a 5-Day Intensive of Expressive Arts, Dance and Qigong at Breitenbush Hot Springs. October 9-14, 2008. See here for details.
Conscious Play! An Introduction to Conscious Language™ and Embodied Movement
This will be a fun participatory talk at the Seattle Bioneers Conference on Saturday October 18th at 3 p.m. See their website for more information about Bioneers, an excellent annual international conference on environmental and social justice issues, and for a list and description of all the local speakers.
