Paradise Center qigong classes evolve with the seasons

As the seasons change, so do the classes at The Paradise Center.

Qigong instructor Sandi Love’s class enters a new season as the weather warms up and the flowers bloom.

“Qigong is a mind-body practice and a moving meditation that quiets the mind and gives the body vitality,” said Love. “It is really based on what is going on in nature and how our bodies feel the same way. Qigong has brought so many people joy, and I hear amazing feedback from my students like that they have better sleep and have less pain.”

Each season, the focus of the qigong class changes based on which element they are working on from the Five Element theory in traditional Chinese medicine. 

The five elements are fire, earth, metal, wood and water. Each element works on different organs and different emotions.

Photo by Petra Rivera

The seasons last about two-and-a-half months. The spring season started on Feb. 22 and the next season will be fire for early summer.

The qigong class at The Paradise Center recently exited the “quiet Yin energy” of winter that is represented by the water element. This focuses on introspections, listening to nature and exercises that benefit the kidney and bladder. 

The class then entered into the “rising Yang energy” of the spring, which represents the wood element. This benefits the tendons and liver. 

“The energy of nature is rising up out of the roots and the trunk of the tree into the branches of the tree. It is the same for us,” said Love. “The wood element has the positive qualities of self-motivation, expansion, flexibility, curiosity, growth and kindness. We play and grow with gentle beautiful movements that create synovial fluid in the body and use our muscles and joints in a calm and relaxed way. Many of my students tell me they don't even feel like they are exercising. Yet, they can feel their body has been worked.”

Originally from California, Love didn’t start practicing qigong until she moved to Longboat Key. She said that one day when she was walking out of the Lord’s Warehouse at the Longboat Island Chapel she ran into a woman who told her that her Californian roots made her perfect for the qigong exercise. At first, Love wasn’t impressed by the Chinese practice, but she said after two weeks she felt a change in her body with fewer aches and pains. She also started to feel the qigong energy.

Photo by Petra Rivera

After five years of practicing, Love told Suzy Brenner, executive director of The Paradise Center, how she wished that there was a qigong class on the island, so she could have a community to learn from. Love's teacher told her that she was ready to lead a class because of her initiative and determination for qigong over the years. She started teaching at The Paradise Center in 2018. 

“Each class is different so people don’t know what to expect when they come,” said Love. “You do a lot of different movements, things that you don't normally do. They make your brain work and push people to try new things. Sometimes, we will do a healing circle where we pass healing energy to everybody. I love seeing the joy in my students' faces when they start to see how qigong helps their body.”