Weekly Tai Chi/Qi Gong Classes
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Since 1995, Ray has been practicing Marriage and Family Therapy and treating individuals, couples and families. He has come to realize that emotional distress manifests in the body causing somatic pain, illness, and disease. Working with the body while using slow motion gentle movements can help discharge the stress and help healing occur. This happens though mind/body integration and by replacing intrusive thoughts with the physical sensation of the movements themselves.
Clinical studies have shown that Tai Chi/Qi Gong have many health benefits, and both are recommended for treatment of hyper-tension, arthritis, heart attack recovery, back pain, Parkinsons, Shingles, Asthma, Diabetes, Anxiety, Depression, and Fibromyalgia (to name but a few.)
The practices of Tai Chi/Qi Gong incorporate slow, gentle movements done without tension in the body to help improve balance, awareness, focus, and breath, to reduce stress, and to promote emotional and somatic healing.
More about Tai Chi/Qi Gong: This slow motion martial art is a moving meditation that originated in China around 3,000 years ago. The Tao (The Way of Nature) evolved from Tai Chi, meaning “grand ultimate.” The Tao is about balancing Yin and Yang, the opposing tensions or polarities of life, The Yin is the internal application of one’s energy and Yang is the external application of one’s energy. Tai Chi aids in balancing your internal life with your external life.
Moving slowly - in a controlled manner - activates the Qi energy through the body to promote healing. Because the movements are done slowly without tension in the body, circulation improves. This aids in the healing process. It takes energy to move slowly in a controlled way, so one may find themselves sweating as they move through the form. The class includes Qi Gong breathing exercises as well. The practice of Qi Gong is the cultivation of the Qi energy in the body and the exchange of Qi with the environment and is accomplished through mindful awareness of body sensations and breath as one moves slowly in a controlled way without tension in the body.
Tai Chi is not just exercise. It develops self-awareness, self-acceptance and self-assertion through the flow of continuous movement. IT IMPROVES COORDINATION, HARMONY, AND UNDERSTANDING. The form becomes so familiar that there is no need to think about it, which allows one to enjoy the freedom of experiencing the merging of the mind and body through the “felt sense.” As one learns the “Yang Style” one move at a time, there are several benefits realized:
1. The development of patience, presence, and ability to slow down.
2. Improved circulation by letting go of tension in the body.
3. The experience of Mindfulness by integrating mind and body through the movements and the breath.
4. Neuroplasticity of the brain is changed through the development of muscle memory.
About your instructor: Ray Blume, LMFT, is a certified Tai Chi and Qi Gong instructor with the American Tai Chi Association and is teaching Tai Chi and Qi Gong at the William Rohrer Center for Health and Fitness in Voorhees, at the Virtua certified medical gyms in Moorestown and Washington Township since 2008, and the Katz JCC in Cherry Hill. He also instructs special needs young adults at the TOPS program in Cherry Hill in Tai Chi and Qi Gong. Ray instructs in Yang Style Tai Chi and a variety of Qi Gong traditions and has over 1300 hours of experience as an instructor. Ray is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice since 1995, and he utilizes Qi Gong and Tai Chi in treatment with his clients to help them self-regulate emotional distress and somatic distress.
