Day 19: 1/19/13- St. David's S.P.A. Day, Qigong and Face Mask

Day 19: 1/19/13 - St. David's S.P.A. Day       
New Thing- Qigong and Homemade Face Mask       
Inspiration: Spiritual Practices in Action       
Time: 5 hours       
Bottom Line: "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with you bodies." 1 Cor. 6:19-20

Ancient Qigong Moves

Reflection: As you may remember from my post of two days ago, today the women of St. David's gathered together to have a Wellness day devoted to honoring the bodies that God has given us as temples of the Holy Spirit. It was a whole day centered on the Incarnation and learning how to use spiritual practices and bodily prayers to grow closer to God. Since Jesus came to us in bodily form, we know that He cares about bodies and speaks to us through these tangible creations that we live with. We started the day with Morning Prayer and then had Tie Chi and Qigong which I had never tried before. Here is Wikipedia's description of this ancient practice:

Qigong, chi kung, or chi gung is a practice of aligning breath, movement, and awareness for exercise, healing, and meditation.With roots in Chinese medicine, martial arts, and philosophy, qigong is traditionally viewed as a practice to cultivate and balance qi (chi) or what has been translated as "intrinsic life energy." Typically a qigong practice involves rhythmic breathing coordinated with slow stylized repetition of fluid movement, a calm mindful state, and visualization of guiding qi through the body. 

 

 It was very relaxing as was the yoga that followed. We then had a presentation on super foods and a guided mindful eating mediation. Finally, we had a discussion and presentation on eco-stewardship and healthy skin practices by using a skin mask (that we took home) made of egg whites, honey and lemon juice. It tightened and softened my face. A wonderful sabbath day of centering.