I feel greatly honored to have been invited to serve as a guest speaker tomorrow in a class at my alma mater Antioch University Los Angeles. I’ve been asked to address the use of “alternative methods (outside of the medical model and even traditional therapy) to renegotiate addiction.” In my case, those “alternative methods” include various forms of meditation: trance-inducing guided imagery, mindfulness, and the “moving meditation” practices of Tai Chi and Qigong. I will be standing on the shoulders of so many, beginning with meditating therapist Dee Clark, my Antioch classmate and good buddy, who “strongly encouraged” me in 1998 to interview for the internship program at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center Addiction Medicine Department, where she successfully advocated that guided imagery meditation be added to the Chemical Dependency Recovery Program curriculum. I inherited her workshop when she moved to Maine in 2004. I added “Mind-Body Recovery Techniques” (based on Integral Qigong and Tai Chi) in 2011, and added mindfulness meditation in 2015.
As charged up as I feel right now while putting the finishing touches on my presentation, I know I’ll be even more charged up tomorrow, as I situate myself in my COVIDtide “office” here in the living room of the Ortiz Taylor House (pictured) and join the class. How convenient that as soon as the class ends, I’ll step 10 feet to the north to the living room “dojo,” where, between the armoire, the piano, and the recliner, I’ll lead my weekly, online Standing Qigong session.
How ‘bout joining me for Qigong? If not tomorrow, then any one of my M-F sessions? The schedule and Zoom links are below. For the password, please email me at MindBodyLosAngeles@gmail.com.
Mondays, 7:00-8:00PM. Standing Qigong. Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86804532643
Tuesdays, 10:00-11:00AM. Standing or Seated Qigong. Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89429272712
Wednesdays, 5:00-6:00PM. Standing Qigong. Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88285792745
Thursdays, 8:00-9:00AM. Seated or Standing Qigong (your preference). Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84624012267
Friday Seated Qigong sessions will continue as they have for the past 8-1/2 months, 12:00-1:00PM. Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/195660761 Donations of $0-$20 are appreciated. Venmo: @MindBodyLosAngeles. PayPal: MindBodyLosAngeles@gmail.com. Zelle: MindBodyLosAngeles@gmail.com. Please join us, even if you are not in a position to contribute monetarily. (Money is not the only medium with which generosity may be extended.) Members of the Time Bank may transfer one “time dollar” to the Silver Lake Time Bank account in hOurworld. You can track developments here at my website MindBodyLosAngeles.com and on my Facebook page Lee Conger, LMFT & Integral Qigong and Tai Chi.
