Ten Powerful Benefits of
|
Lodging Option
|
Regular Registration for Primordial Qigong Retreat |
|
$1785 |
$1985 |
|
$2385 |
$2585 |
|
$1385 |
$1585 |
Once you are registered, you will receive a series of emails, which will include further information about how to prepare, what to bring, and how to get to the retreat facility.
Available Payment Plan Options for a Limited Time Only
We have created a 3-Month Pay Plan and a 6-Month Pay Plan for a nominal finance and administration fee. Simply register as usual. Upon choosing your preferred Lodging type, you will be taken to the Shopping Cart where you will see the payment plan options. Simply choose the one that works best for you and sign up!
Note: The total of all your payments will equal the registration cost plus the applicable finance fee ($75.00 for 3-month plans, $180.00 for 6-month plans.) This sum is evenly dispersed over 3 or 6 monthly payments. Once you enter your credit card information and submit your order, your first payment will be charged immediately. Each subsequent payment will be automatically charged to your credit card in 30-day increments for the duration of your selected plan.
Recommended Reading:
The Healing Promise of Qi
The Book of Balance and Harmony
The Secret of the Golden Flower
Portions of the I Ching and the Dao De Jin
 |
About La Casa de Maria
La Casa de Maria can be found at the end of a winding lane canopied in dense foliage leading from the Upper Village in Montecito. Set in a secret garden, guarded by woodlands and the tumbling waters of the San Ysidro Creek, its ambience is that of a much-loved country house through which many generations have passed and left their mark.
Each year, approximately 12,000 people benefit from a retreat or workshop at La Casa de Maria. Over 400 faith-based, educational and nonprofit groups ranging in size from 10 to 150 people come to learn, reflect and grow. For half a century, the historic twenty-six acre retreat center has preserved a serene rural beauty that suggests timeless peace. In 2006, U.S. News & World Report cited La Casa de Maria as "one of the U.S. best retreats."
Directions to La Casa de Maria
La Casa de Maria Retreat Center on El Bosque is located at the base of the foothills about 2 miles from the San Ysidro Road exit off California Highway 101. El Bosque Road is a narrow turning close to Montecito Upper Village. From 101 take San Ysidro exit for El Bosque.
800 El Bosque Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93108
From Santa Barbara (about 5 miles): 101 south to San Ysidro Road. Left onto San Ysidro Road about 1 mile to East Valley Road (the second signal light) in the Montecito Upper Village. Right on East Valley Road about 2/10 mile to El Bosque Road. Left on El Bosque which ends at La Casa de Maria.
From Los Angeles (about 90 miles): 101 north to San Ysidro Road. Follow directions above.
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX): Santa Barbara Air Bus runs 16 scheduled trips to and from daily service to Los Angeles International. Stops at several locations in Santa Barbara; the most convenient to La Casa de Maria is Santa Barbara - Hyatt Hotel 1111 E. Cabrillo Blvd. (805) 964-7759.
Santa Barbara Municipal Airport (SBA): For greatest convenience, we recommend making reservations with Santa Barbara as your final destination. Flights connect from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Denver, and Dallas/Fort Worth.
Visit the SB Airport’s official website for further information. A taxi ride from SBA to La Casa de Maria will run approximately $35 one way (quoted by Rose Cab - request La Casa de Maria special rate - (805) 564-2600) Roadrunner Shuttle & Limousine Service offers a discounted rate for retreat participants to travel from SBA to La Casa de Maria; phone 800-247-7919 or visit their website. Reservations for Roadrunner Shuttle must be made a minimum of 24 hours in advance.
| |||||||||||||||||||||
Wuji -- Primordial Qigong
Immersion Retreat
Touching Heaven Within
June 8 - 13, 2012 La Casa de Maria, Santa Barbara, California
Early Registration Rates for a Limited Time Only
Watch a short video on the mindset you tap into when you practice Qigong.
The Three Treasures of Life
The deep layers of human experience are chemical, energetic and alchemical. Perceiving human experience in these three layers is an ancient practice captured by Chinese cosmology and culture. This world view represents the aspects of a full being, a way of perceiving and experiencing life. The ancient Chinese called this the Three Treasures (San Bao).
Being Alive is the experience of embracing
change and transformation on multiple levels.
You have likely sensed these things? Our normal lives, according to the ancients, are mythic and symbolic.The story of your life is the story of life. For your energetic self, no matter what you experience, your timeless energetic self is eternally refining.
This is Alchemy!
 |
Learn to practice |
Primordial Qigong: It Is A Portal
The Primordial Qigong form (Wuji Qigong) is claimed to be the Mother of Tai Chi, emerging before history and refined over millennia. Dr. Jahnke will reveal its historic roots in ancient Daoism and Chinese shamanism.
While the traditional foundation of Primordial Qigong is known as alchemy, it is a practical system for cultivating physical stillness and conscious (deliberate) movement. Relaxation or release of muscular tension when combined with special breathing practices produces a profound medicine or elixir within. This process develops a high level of coordination of inner focus, purposeful concentration and Qi cultivation skill, a portal to purposeful personal transformation!
Such skill has many applications. In particular, it is highly regarded in the martial arts as the characteristic of well-trained practitioners and masters. The ultimate purpose of this practice is to become at one with Heaven or the Dao or the ALL THAT IS. In this regard, the benefits of this practice are not meant solely for specialists of any kind -- martial artists, doctors, monks or scholars. The benefits are meant for anyone with the sincere intent to know, deeply and completely, the nature of things.
Primordial Qigong practice is a “shortcut” to concentration and internal reflection which results in a heightened self-awareness that increases over time with continued practice. Practitioners report awareness of the workings of their blood circulation, peristalsis, muscular movement, skeletal alignment, balance --- and, as well, the nature of insight, knowing and pre-cognitive states.
In addition, over time and with sincere immersion in practice, practitioners come to know their own minds and emotional responses. The bodies and temperaments of practitioners are said to soften, become more pliable and even — to glow. These are all ”confirmatory signs” of the Qi moving and functioning freely in the human system.
What happens as the result of continual practice is a type of internal alchemy, a refinement and manifestation of the "Three Treasures" or San Bao (in Chinese). The Three Treasures are known as Jing, Qi and Shen and can be loosely translated as Essence, Vitality and Spirit. According to ancient Daoist doctrine the Three Treasures can be described as three types of energy available to humans.
The Dao De Jing purported to be written by Lao Zi states in Chapter 42 that "The Dao gives birth to the One, the One gives birth to the Two (Taiji or Yin and Yang ) and the Two gives birth to the Three." This, in turn, gives rise to the four directions, the five elements, and the 10,000 Things: EVERYTHING that exists in heaven and on earth.
What would arise if you — with purpose and intent — enter into a conscious relationship with your own resources, your own Three Treasures? The promise according to the ancient Chinese sages is entry into a relationship with your eternal nature. This is truly an opportunity.
What is the price of something that's priceless?
Watch a short video on what Wuji Qigong/Primordial Qigong practice is.
In this Qigong immersion retreat led by Dr. Roger Jahnke, OMD, there is great opportunity to sense and work with your deepest energetic nature. In your work with these energies, you enter a portal of personal alchemical transformation where the ordinary becomes extra ordinary, life direction shifts, healing can occur and renewal is within reach.
Join experienced teachers/guides and supportive, like minded friend, to create a powerful energy (Qi) field. We will be in one of the most beautiful, peaceful retreat centers in America to explore the nature of nature, your nature. This is something you may already be aware of yet you may want practice deepening and sustaining in the company of like minded friends.
The goal is to enter the realm of Alchemy and cultivate the ability to live there.
There will be guides present. There will be a lot of practice in a profoundly beautiful setting. There will be some free time (more or less, up to you). The goal of practice is to let go so much that there is no goal, no force, no constraint.
But, before this can occur, it is useful to cultivate focused intentful goals. Goals to practice regularly. Goals to recognize opportunities to practice in the ordinary flow of experience. Goals to go deeper. Goals to find ways to arrange life to include practice, including finding friends and like-minded others with whom you can have discussions and find support when you are challenged.
The goal is to go deep.To mine the richness of INNER GOLD – this is Alchemy.
In alchemy we refine the mundane to reveal the presence of the extraordinary -- the GOLD. What is the nature of the GOLD within your unique personal being?
How will you ever know?
Practice Primordial Qigong — It Is A Portal.
Watch brief video on Primordial Qigong movements.