The training shoes we often use have got many advantages, the fact that they look exactly the same are not one of them. Mostly it doesn’t matter, but during the longer courses there could be hundreds of pairs. It could then be a bit difficult to keep track of your shoes. To keep theirs from others several participants have put a personal mark on them, for an example an embroidery. We would love to see more, and there is probably many who want inspiration! Have you, or one of your training-friends, got a pair of adorned shoes? Send a picture to feedback@zhinengqigong.eu and we will publish it here on the website. Here is what some of the shoes during this year’s Summer course looked like:

The delicious spreads that the kitchen blended together for our meals were very appreciated during this year’s summer courses. One of the spreads, the pea pesto, was a winner among many and therefore we thought to share the approximate recipe here on our website:

Green peas
Roasted sunflower seeds
Salt and pepper
Rapeseed oil (pretty much)

The kitchen is saying that the different spreads don’t have an exact recipe, but that they often have a base of some leguminous plant, as chick-peas, lima beans or black beans. To that it is added several ingredients to give some taste, for an example oven baked zucchini, roasted olives or several sundried tomatoes. Herbs, garlic, pepper and salt belong to the standard ingredients, which are mixed into, and to that perhaps some oil or water to make it more spreadable and delicious.

Bon appétit!

This year’s summer courses offered a lot of training and many nice moments together. Below we have put together some photos, which we hope will give a nice summer feeling both for you who had the opportunity to participate, but also for you who did not. We would also like to remind you that the Autumn semester soon kicks off – it offers lots of opportunities to meet and train together! Take a peek at our website to see our range of courses during the Autumn. And for those who have missed the training that the summer courses offer, there will be a new opportunity this winter, we have organized summer-course training in the first week of the new year.

Conversations in the sun

Wild strawberries outside dining hall

Practicing before the cabaret

Evening snack

Nice conversations – many participants really enjoyed the atmosphere on the summer courses this year

Roses on the way to the training hall

Lunch in the sun

Some help with the children is always welcome

On the way to the training hall

Resting on the grass

A little help with the trip home

Very soon the summer courses is here and there are many who will take the course for the first time. With you in mind we have put together a proposal for a packing list that you can use to get some inspiration when it is time for you to start packing. We also gathered tips from experienced summer course participants about things that might be good to bring. I you where toforget something at home, it is not the whole world. Grocery stores and a pharmacy are within walking distance.

You can get a copy of the list here.

I did a weekend course in March, 2007, and I was so impressed by the practice. I liked it so much, that on that weekend, I decided that I wanted to know more about it. To take it very seriously. And so I very quickly signed up. I knew one person, but I would have come anyway. Because everyone is incredibly friendly, welcoming and helpful.

I keep coming back because it benefits me hugely, it boosts my energy, it helps my health, and I love the experience. And I find mr Su’s teachings inspiring.

Before I started practising Qi Gong, I had problems with my left knee. I think I’m rather prone to arthristic aches and pain, when I am the age I am, so I think it probably keeps me very supple, and keeps that kind of condition at bay. And that feels very good.

My sleep is good with Qi Gong. I had poor sleep before I started training. And that was actually an immediate effect of my first weekend course, that I began to sleep incredibly well.

The summer courses is fast approaching, do not forget to register for this year’s event qigong. Here is a collage of Tidbits from last year’s summer.

I attended my first summer course in 2013 after being recommended it by my colleagues. I thought it must be something very special if she, my colleague, has joined it for 8 consecutive years. Before going I read a lot on the web site. I read about Magnus, Pär and Ellen and when I got to meet them in real life I was immediately convinced that EZQ was good for me.

I felt supple and more flexible, I suffered less from neurological pains and it did me good. I like the unique combination of disciplined training in an encouraging ambiance. You strive for the correct position of your body, you do your very best. There is such a nice ambiance here, warmth and consideration and people care. I am convinced that practising Zhineng Qigong gives me a better health. Training improves life quality, not only physically but mentally as well.

Tove was afflicted by Borrelia Neuroborrelios (Lyme disease in the neural system) on October 31 2012. The following summer, 2013, she took her first summer course, as a complete novice, without having learned the method during a weekend course, which is normally done. Since the first summer course, Tove has been training regularly once a week in a group with others and returns to summer courses every year.

Goodbye Almuñécar

We will definitely come back.

Excursion to the Alhambra

Alhambra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is Spain’s most visited tourist destination.

Our guide Mercedes grew up in the area and gave us a very appreciated guided tour in Swedish.

Here is a special mosaic, one of the many fantastic interiors of the palaces.

Walking in the palaces wonderful gardens is a rejuvenating experience.

We also made a short detour to Granada where you could visit the huge Renaissance cathedral.

A little of everything from Almuñécar

View from the castle in the old town.

Many places serve homemade ice cream.

The promenade outside our hotel extends several kilometers.

If one does not want to swim in the ocean then there is an excellent pool at the hotel.

Greenery in the stairwell of the hotel.

On one of the hotel’s sun terraces there are also a hot tub.

Chocolate fountain!

From the Market Hall to the beach

On the way to the market hall.

Siesta is best spent on the beach.

Morning and evening in Almuñécar

After the morning workout at sunrise tastes with breakfast.

Here are parts of our fresh breakfast buffét.

The sunsets are magical.

Almuñécar by night.

Can you have a more beautiful training hall than this?

The view from the training hall on the top floor is fantastic.

Here, we practice two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening.

Resting on the sun terrace.

Everyone is not training. Some enjoy the beach instead.

Fine first morning training on the beach

Morning training before breakfast on the beach in front of the hotel.

Our local guide Swedish Bosse took us on a tour of the city and had many interesting things to show and tell.

We ended the city walk with tapas at one of the cozy restaurants.

Finally in Almuñécar

Our hotel is located right on the Mediterranean beach.

View from the hotel.

One of all the nice terraces at the hotel.

It’s wonderful to walk on the beautiful beaches of Almuñécar.

We look forward to the morning training on the beach.

I had no disease when I started practicing Zhineng Qigong. There was nothing that I came to get rid of. I started practsing to enhance my ability to do everything. To gain control over the mind and test how much potential we humans really have. I was (and still is) interested in how the world worked, especially how it is out in the world and we work within ourselves, something I thought would fit with my studies in physics. I started by joining a weekend course and attended my first summer course the following year.

Quite early, about three months after I started practicing, I had a sudden opening in my legs while I trained. Before, I was really quite stiff, I could not bend further down than to his knees with my hands. When I got this fast change, I became motivated and continued to practise and joined the summer course.

I return to the summer courses because I get concrete experiences and results, it is moving forward. I feel stronger in the body. I feel more powerful. An early result after the summer course was that I needed to sleep two hours less each night. Six hours instead of eight.
In the beginning I thought it was mostly mental things you would work with, but I got quite early experience that it hangs together. The physical and the mental are two sides of the same thing, so you have to work with both.