GODS PLAYING IN THE CLOUDS NEIGONG
26-29 April & 17-20 May 2025
FINSBURY PARK, LONDON
New & Existing Students Welcome
Overview
Gods Playing in the Clouds is the original and most powerful of the Taoist self-rejuvenation practices, having the potential to take a practitioner to the furthest depths of neigong training and themselves.
Although the following two retreats have been designed as one stream of teaching, each will be complete unto itself, allowing students to attend one or the other.
The first retreat — new and existing students will learn and refine the six movements of the Gods set, giving you an opportunity to be exposed to and explore some of the more profound neigong material offered within the Water Method.
The second retreat is designed for existing Gods Qigong practitioners, including those who attend the first retreat, to take you into the depths of weaving and integrating neigong and upgrading your internal arts skill set.
Note: Those who wish to learn or refine Taoist Breathing are welcome to attend the second retreat even if you do not know the Gods Qigong set. However, you will only learn the basics of two or three movements from Gods Qigong in order to incorporate breathing techniques in motion. Learning all six movements of the Gods Qigong set is not possible within the scope of this four-day course. Please attend the first retreat if you wish to learn the complete Gods Qigong set.
In-person courses are not recorded or live streamed as instruction is adjusted to meet the needs of those present, including hands-on corrections not relevant to the greater student base.
Retreat 1: The Kwa, Spine & Lower Tantien
26-29 April 2025
Attend the first retreat to learn the structure and choreography of the six movements of Gods Playing in the Clouds, along with various layers of essential internal (neigong) content. When building and re-building any internal art form, the practitioner has the opportunity to weave in new or deeper layers of neigong. This is especially true for Gods Qigong, as it has the capacity to hold the entirety of the 16 neigong system within its movements.
The specific neigong weave I’ll teach in this course is designed to:
Open up the body — the skeletal frame and the soft tissues (fascia, muscles, tendons and ligaments).
Deepen turning, twisting, and bending and stretching of the body’s soft tissues.
Initiate a strong pulse that clears stagnancies and blockages from your body, energy and mind.
Access and amplify core qi flows.
Massage the internal organs through activation of the cavity system of the body.
The Three Leaders
We will also focus on the Three Leaders — the kwa, spine and lower tantien — in order to generate internal power for health, healing, strength and vitality. First we will bring alive these three aspects of neigong and then work towards unifying them into one powerful “engine”.
Note:
The two week-break between retreats has been arranged in order to give you plenty of time to practise, assimilate and embody the techniques taught before weaving in additional neigong to boost the effectiveness and power you can achieve from your Gods Qigong practice.
The complete set of Gods Qigong will not be taught in the second retreat in order to go deeper into Taoist Breathing and the internals that drive form movements. For this reason, new and beginning-level students are encouraged to attend the first retreat.
After the first retreat, I will teach a two-day course on the Bagua Single and Double Palm Changes, where I’ll show you how to apply the techniques trained in the Gods Qigong retreat within your bagua palms.
Book with payment below to reserve your place.
Retreat 2: Taoist Natural & Reverse Breathing
17-20 May 2025
The second four-day retreat is all about integration. The breathing techniques practised within Gods Playing in the Clouds can be used as the glue that unifies all the internal content active within your form into one, coherent whole. The first retreat builds the engine, while the second retreat uses that engine to power breathing, and unify body, mind and qi.
For this reason, we will spend a considerable amount of time on Taoist Breathing:
Beginning-level students will focus on natural breathing.
More advanced students who meet ALL prerequisites* on arrival will focus on the first stage of reverse breathing.
Taoist Natural Breathing
Natural breathing is how a newborn baby breathes which has the potential to connect a human being’s entire physical and energetic anatomy, when practised well. This breathing methodology is very effective at:
Releasing the nervous system.
Opening up the organ base.
Clearing stagnant qi from the body.
Bringing alive your internal systems.
Building health and vitality from the inside out.
Taoist Reverse Breathing
Reverse breathing initiates much stronger internal pressures in the body. For this reason, you must have already used natural breathing to clear your system to safely embark upon the reverse breathing methodology.
* Reverse Breathing Group Prerequisite: Only students who can demonstrate Taoist whole-body breathing on arrival and meet ALL the prerequisites with ease will be considered for the reverse breathing group. (If you don’t already know what these prerequisites are, then you are not yet a candidate.) I reserve the right to make the final decision on whether any person will participate in this group to ensure safe and productive training for everybody. Thank you for your understanding.
INTEGRATING NEIGONG IN THE GODS QIGONG FORM
Once we have established a baseline for breathing while sitting, standing and through simple neigong movements, we will integrate natural and reverse breathing techniques within the six-movement Gods Qigong set. The focus will be on how to use Taoist Breathing to pull together and unify all other internal neigong within Gods Qigong.
In this retreat, we will deepen the material presented in the first retreat by adding in layers of relevant neigong. This will include adjustments to the movements of the Gods form to more advanced versions in order to more fully access your core energy and develop your qi.
Note:
The six movements of Gods Qigong will NOT be taught in the second retreat in order to focus on breathing and the internals that drive form movements. Please attend the first retreat to learn the full set; otherwise you will learn two or three movements in order to incorporate breathing techniques in motion.
After the second retreat, I will teach a two-day Instructor Upgrade seminar for existing TTCS and EA Instructors and Instructor-trainees.
Qigong & Tai Chi Instructors/Prospective Instructors
TTCS teachers, teacher-trainees and prospective teachers will receive 19 hours training credit for each four-day retreat (38 hours total for both retreats) towards prerequisite in-person training hours.
For more info, or if you would like to join my TTCS teacher mentorship programme, see:
BOOKING INFO
Schedule
Saturday-Tuesday:
26-29 April 2025 - this retreat is followed by a two-day bagua seminar
17-20 May 2025 - this retreat is followed by a two-day teacher upgrade seminar
Registration
Saturday at 10:30 am
Class
Saturday, 10:50 am-5:00 pm
Sunday & Monday, 10:30 am-5:00 pm
Tuesday, 10:30 am-4:30 pm
(90-minute lunch)
19 hours training per retreat
Location
The Tai Chi Space
1-2 Leeds Place
Tollington Park
Finsbury Park
London N4 3RF
Finsbury Park and Crouch Hill Stations:
Victoria and Piccadilly Lines, and London Overground
Plan your TFL journey
Sharing Accommodation and Rideshare:
Review and post offers and requests
Course Fees
£475 per four-day retreat
£850 both retreats, if paid by 26 April 2025 (subject to availability)
Pay in USD or Euro — subject to currency exchange rate changes:
US$625 per four-day retreat; US$1,085 both retreats
575 € per four-day retreat;1025 € both retreats
Bank Transfer
Use the payment button below to pay by card/Apple Pay in US dollars, or download bank details:
Please send us an email with your name and email for payments via bank, and we’ll confirm your place with a paid invoice within three business days.
RESERVE YOUR PLACE
Book with payment to reserve your place:
4-day Gods Retreat, 26-29 April
and/or
4-day Breathing & Gods Retreat, 17-20 May
Check your spam folder if you do not immediately receive a payment receipt via email.
Please add qi@paulcavel.com to your contacts to ensure timely delivery of messages.