Discover the energy of the four animals E-Book

Gertrud Schröder

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Seitenzahl: 92

Beschreibung

It only needs a few pages, a few minutes, only small moves ....until Gertrud Schröder reminds us, that bear, crane, tiger and snake are very old friends even for modern people. Deep rooted in our spiritual life, they move us by their power and stories. So, these four animal images in Qigong Dancing are guiding us to connect with ourselves and others, with our prehistory and myths, with fears and desires. They wake up the joy of physical expression, offering alternative strategies of action, let us experience vitality. The energy of the four animals is a history of life and a pool of experiences. It takes us on a journey of intertwined western and eastern knowledge and opens up for new perspectives. Those who follow the tracks of those animals can discover new attitudes towards life and ways, because they are grounded in something that keeps us in motion and is easy to access: OUR BODY

Leseprobe

CONTENTS

PREFACE

BRIEF INTRODUCTION

BEGINNING AND DEVELOPMENT

My Background

Roots of Qigong

The Concept of Qigong Dancing

The four Elements

Four Element System

Dance with the Energy of Life

THE FOUR ANIMALS AND THEIR ASSOCIATIONS

The Bear

Associated themes

The Crane

Associated themes

The Tiger

Associated themes

The Snake

Associated themes

The Bottom Line (Quintessence)

About the music with images of the four animals

BASIC EXERCISES OF THE FOUR ANIMALS

Connecting heaven and earth

Qigong: THE BEAR

Qigong: THE CRANE

Qigong: THE TIGER

Qigong: THE SNAKE

EXAMPLES OF USE

Preparing children for life

Assertiveness trainig for children and adults

FIELD RECORDS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

MUSIC - BOOK - DVD

FOREWORD

“LEARNING THE TRUTH WITH BODY AND MIND“

(Shinjin gakudo)

37th capture in Shobogenzo of Dogen

In Western philosophy and science from the antiquity until the end of the last millenium, intellect and spirit have been placed at the forefront of thinking. Body awareness was not common, neither in theory nor in practice.

Then has been a change of paradigm in Western medicine and psychotherapy due to new perceptions in neurobiology and neuro-psychology.

Human beings were considered more holistic. Body and mind were no longer separated. Body and mind no longer existed as counterparts and affect and cognition were no longer divided. The power of ima- gination and emotions influence physical processes and vice versa. Movement and postures have an effect on thinking and feeling.

In this context, acceptance of traditional healing from the Far East is continually gaining ground. One aspect is the scientific knowledge, whilst the other aspect is fundamental experience.

Qigong enriches health treatment. It complements Western ways in viewing life in the context of thought and speech, and by approaching life through Eastern meditation and body experience.

Gertrud Schröder´s book is the essence of four decades of practicing Qigong, martial arts and Zen-meditation.

I met Gertrud in 2001 during a further education course called ‘Affect Control Training‘ and I was immediately impressed by her physical presence.

As I studied medicine and psychotherapy, I enhanced my knowledge. Analytic thinking and different theories and hypothesis were fami- liar to me. I had to understand, that my intellectual knowledge of the relationship between body and mind were only the beginning, and I am grateful that Gertrud encouraged me during the following years to begin my own path.

She generously shared her profound knowledge with me.

Gertrud has an extraordinary personality. She is an authentic teacher, always ready not only to teach, but also to learn. With an inexhaustable enthusiasm, she developed her system with the four animal images and tested them in different areas.

The dragon is a mythical animal in Western and Eastern culture. Strength and ability are its attributes: in this sense long ping (peace- ful dragon) is an exemplary mediator: she builds bridges between West and East, extracting the best of both traditions for optimum application in current times.

In friendship,

Brigitte Flegel

Psychiatric consultant and psychotherapist

PREFACE OF A SINOLOGIST

Interested in philosophy and the practical implementation, it was only a question of time before we would meet in Freiburg. What I appreciate in Gertrud Schröder, also called Long Ping (peaceful dragon), is the dragon‘s mutual view of humans and the world: the character, flying in heaven, the dragon loves the vastness, the view and swimming, he values the closeness of encounter.

With an all-seeing eye, she developed the inter- and transculture of her practice and theory. Animal exercises from the old Chinese tradition and Western teaching of the four elements were connected. Thereby she created her very own system called Qigong Dancing.

The system can be used in a lot of different fields in which human relationship plays an important role, for example, in kindergarten and schools, as well as in social work and therapy.

This book describes the history of Qigong Dancing which is associated with Gertrud´s biography. In the second stage, she invites the reader to develop his or her own experiences and reflections about life, which is even more attractive due to the practice of dance, power, mindfulness and concentration. There are body exercises to learn, but also descriptions of the experiences from her students. In their examples of use you see the full potential of daily life support and therapy. In this context you hear about „Affect control training“, which means it is important to be aware of your own feelings in order to handle your own emotions and affects in relation to other people. Both are exercised and embodied: an intuition for the atmosphere of situations and connection to people, as well as the ability to act and react throughout your daily life.

I hope Gertrud‘s book will reach many people. People who aspire to a more collective, peaceful, aware and playful life all rolled into one. So they may acquire their own experiences, as well as those with others in the expression of different aspects: the serenity of the bear, the grace of the crane, the energy of the tiger and the transformation ability of the snake.

Gudula Linck

em. Prof. for Sinologie, University Kiel

BRIEF INTRODUCTION

Experience and discovery, learning and development through motion has been the basis of shaping my life. I would like to invite you to a journey of discovery. We are on a journey and the image of the bear, the crane, the tiger and the snake are our companions. New paths will be opened through the medium of motion. New impulses will be engaged for more in-depth observation and to become perceptible to change. It will grow into an opportunity for implemention in your daily life.

Together with Thomas Brendel, the founder of ‘Affect Control Training‘, I developed a training which serves the inner and outer orientation of the world. In the meantime, it has been adopted for practice in many fields, including institutions for child and youth welfare, crisis intervention, rehabilitation, psychiatry, corrections facilities, probationary services, psychotherapy, adult education, kindergarten, schools and special needs schools.

The four images of the animals are the gate to essential life themes. They provide supporting impulses for individual inner development. It is the basis for awakening curiosity and questioning.

The following questions are designed to encourage ‘movement‘:

How do I represent my point of view? (bear)

What are my goals? (crane)

How do I commit myself? (tiger)

When and how do I adapt myself? (snake)

Gertrud Schröder, November 2017

BEAR

Inner attentiveness

Strength and serenity

To care about yourself

Grounding

CRANE

Grace and beauty

Clarity and vision

Having a goal

Openness to connect

TIGER

Acting with precision

Ready to fight

Resolution and energy

Decisive actions

SNAKE

Smooth movement

Adaption and transformation

Connecting opposites

Ready for a change

BEGINNING AND DEVELOPMENT

MY BACKGROUND

More than 40 years ago I began a quest for new paths, different ways of life and to find myself. It was high time for a new beginning, to abandon everything that was familiar to me and to seek a more enhanced consciousness. The driving power was curiosity. I was attracted to Berlin in search of freedom and independence. But I also experienced the abyss of a big city.

At that time, I met Steve who later became my husband. After a time traveling together with a group of musicians, we found new orientation and settled in Freiburg.

In practicing Zen-meditation, I learned a new perspective on life. New doors opened one after the other, a direct take on life, to live for the moment. At 22 years old, I had my very first, touching experiences with Zen.

I continued my journey throughout the inner and outer world. It was at this time that I became fascinated by martial arts and started practicing karate. Discipline, structure and fixed procedures were part of the training. This was quite new to me, because until then I had refused inflicted structures from others.

Throughout the following years, I worked in different occupational areas, studied and learned. At the age of 30 I started doing karate again. After some time of practicing karate, I learned about Kung Fu at an advanced training course. I met a Kung Fu teacher. This was the beginning of 8 years of learning Kung Fu, Taijiquan and Qigong, and an extremely important period of my life. These years proved to be a transition from apprentice to journeyman for me. That meant daily practice, learning discipline and stamina.

Month by month I learned from my teacher, either traveling to his place or inviting him to run seminars in my hometown of Freiburg. I met people who I trained with during his absence. I organized seminars in Italy and France. After three years of practicing martial arts, I established my own institute.

When I rediscovered Zen meditation, I started to practice Zazen, simply sitting in silence with my students, in addition to the martial arts. Early in the morning we practiced for one hour, just sitting and opening ourselves to silence and presence, the so-called Shikantaza.

During a Zen initiation, I received my name „Peaceful Dragon“ at the Zen monastery „La Gendronniere“ in France. I am still devoted to this place, and a tradition of regular seminars have now taken place every year at Easter since 1989. It became a period where we practiced martial arts in the spirit of Zen. Once in a while musicians were invited and the first connections between dance, martial arts and music were born.

KARATE MEANT FOR GICHIN FUNASKOSHI

(1868 - 1957)

Teaching Karate Do (path) with Kata (patterns) No competition The spiritual aspect is at the forefront Does not initiate an attack Intuition is more important than technique“Don´t think about winning, just concentrate on how not to lose!“

The images and associations of the animals in Qigong and martial arts became my training focus.

The practice center (dojo) in Freiburg was then established. Training for me was teaching four or five classes every day. The next step was to find larger premises, so I moved to my institute in the ‘Fabrik für Handwerk, Kultur & Ökologie e.V‘ (Factory of Crafting and Culture). I decided to go public with my work and organized a conference for „martial arts, meditation and healing“ in Freiburg. This was quite new at that time.

Teachers and masters from fields as varied as Qigong, acupuncture, Taekwondo and Zen presented their ideas. They shared their knowledge in workshops and panel discussions.

After the conference, I treated myself to a martial arts course by the Chinese master Janet Gee in San Francisco (Cal.,USA). As well as enjoying a wonderful exchange of thoughts beween us, I learned to apply Kung Fu elements in spontaneous, free movements. This was an important impulse for the development of Qigong Dancing. In the following years I travelled to San Francisco several times and invited her to teach at my dojo. More education followed. For several years Qigong Yangchen (Qigong for cherishing life) became an important part of it.