Gillianne Shaver's Wednesday Tai Chi Continuing classes and new Tai Chi Beginners classes will start on Wednesday, October 3rd. All other classes will start on Friday, October 12th.
For any inquiries or to sign up for classes, contact Melissa at (905) 521-0043 or smithmk2@gmail.com.
IN THIS NEWSLETTER
*What to expect from this year's classes
*A note about upcoming workshops
*Changes to monthly fees
TAI CHI BEGINNERS
We've tweaked the Tai Chi Beginners schedule from previous years. Gillianne Shaver will now be teaching Tai Chi Beginners on Wednesdays, from 2:15-3:30pm. I'll continue to teach Beginners on Saturdays from 2-3pm. If you're coming in as a brand new beginner, then these are the classes for you! Intermediate and continuing students are always welcome to attend Tai Chi Beginners classes in order to revisit specific movements, or review.
NEW INTERMEDIATE TAI CHI CLASSES
Mondays from 12:30-2pm will now be the home of Intermediate Tai Chi. This class is specifically for people who have just completed (or mostly completed) learning the Tai Chi set. Participants will refine their technique, while having the opportunity to practice the whole Tai Chi set, and review material covered by Tai Chi for Beginners. While this class is recommended for people who are just beyond the absolute beginners phase, continuing students who want to focus on Tai Chi and who are looking to polish their foundation skills are welcome, and encouraged to attend.
CONTINUING TAI CHI CLASSES
Continuing Tai Chi classes on Monday mornings 9:30-11am, Friday afternoons 1:10-2:40pm, and Saturday afternoons 3-4:30pm, will offer the opportunity to study advanced internal martial arts sets and challenge participants to deepen their understanding of everything we do.
Monday mornings will continue to focus on Tai Chi specifically. While Tai Chi will continue to be studied in all Continuing classes, on Friday afternoons, we'll be studying Tai Chi Sabre; on Saturday, we'll work on the Hsing-I set. By request, and because I think it's an extremely important part of the training, we'll be working with Push Hands in all Continuing classes. This invaluable exercise, performed with a partner, is one of the keys to truly understanding how internal martial arts work. I'm really looking forward to delving into it deeply.
QIGONG CLASSES
Qigong will continue to be available to all students at all levels, at the same times as last year: Mondays at 11:15-12:15, and Friday afternoons, 3-4pm. Qigong exercises and meditation allow us to sink deeply and in a relaxed fashion into refining the techniques that translate throughout all the different internal martial arts. It's an excellent starting point, for people who've never tried any of this before, and a complete practice all on its own.
This year, in addition to continuing to work with the Five Elements set we've been studying, and Eight Brocades, we'll be deepening our relationship with Six Healing Sounds, a powerful movement and meditation technique that participants can use to balance and refresh their energies in a matter of minutes. While we've worked with Six Healing Sounds in its formal setting along with Mantak Chia's Inner Smile meditation, we'll talk about how to use it as a practice on its own, and to integrate it with other practices, like Five Elements Qigong.
SUNDAY WORKSHOPS
In addition to regular classes, I'll be offering Sunday workshops at the Regent Centre in December 2018 and throughout 2019. Workshops are an opportunity to sink deeply into your practice for a longer period of time than the length of a class. The topics will vary, so watch this space for announcements, and if any of you have a request for workshop topics, please let me know! Previous workshops have included Qigong and various forms of meditation, Lok Hup Ba Fa, Sword, Tai Chi, and Push Hands.
Spiritual Development workshops, offered once monthly from my home, will also continue throughout the coming year.
CHANGE IN MONTHLY FEES
After many years of keeping my monthly rate as low as I can, it's time to acknowledge that inflation is affecting me as much as anyone else. At the same time, I need to address an imbalance in the fee structure that has meant that classes are not as accessible as they could be to people who work full-time.
As of October 2018, the monthly fee is $40. This rate applies to people who were previously paying the Senior's rate of $30. It also applies to people who were previously paying the regular rate of $60.
This rate does not apply to people who are in financial need, who are on ODSP, people under the age of 18, or students. The rate for people in any of these categories is still $20 / month.
Because classes are running from the beginning of October, starting on October 3rd, you will owe the full monthly rate for October. Note that the classes I run are still beginning the Friday after Thanksgiving, but Gillianne is available from the beginning of the month.
My goal with this fee change is to enable me to continue to offer classes. If for whatever reason this change will make attending class cost prohibitive for you, please talk to me.
We've tweaked the Tai Chi Beginners schedule from previous years. Gillianne Shaver will now be teaching Tai Chi Beginners on Wednesdays, from 2:15-3:30pm. I'll continue to teach Beginners on Saturdays from 2-3pm. If you're coming in as a brand new beginner, then these are the classes for you! Intermediate and continuing students are always welcome to attend Tai Chi Beginners classes in order to revisit specific movements, or review.
NEW INTERMEDIATE TAI CHI CLASSES
Mondays from 12:30-2pm will now be the home of Intermediate Tai Chi. This class is specifically for people who have just completed (or mostly completed) learning the Tai Chi set. Participants will refine their technique, while having the opportunity to practice the whole Tai Chi set, and review material covered by Tai Chi for Beginners. While this class is recommended for people who are just beyond the absolute beginners phase, continuing students who want to focus on Tai Chi and who are looking to polish their foundation skills are welcome, and encouraged to attend.
CONTINUING TAI CHI CLASSES
Continuing Tai Chi classes on Monday mornings 9:30-11am, Friday afternoons 1:10-2:40pm, and Saturday afternoons 3-4:30pm, will offer the opportunity to study advanced internal martial arts sets and challenge participants to deepen their understanding of everything we do.
Monday mornings will continue to focus on Tai Chi specifically. While Tai Chi will continue to be studied in all Continuing classes, on Friday afternoons, we'll be studying Tai Chi Sabre; on Saturday, we'll work on the Hsing-I set. By request, and because I think it's an extremely important part of the training, we'll be working with Push Hands in all Continuing classes. This invaluable exercise, performed with a partner, is one of the keys to truly understanding how internal martial arts work. I'm really looking forward to delving into it deeply.
QIGONG CLASSES
Qigong will continue to be available to all students at all levels, at the same times as last year: Mondays at 11:15-12:15, and Friday afternoons, 3-4pm. Qigong exercises and meditation allow us to sink deeply and in a relaxed fashion into refining the techniques that translate throughout all the different internal martial arts. It's an excellent starting point, for people who've never tried any of this before, and a complete practice all on its own.
This year, in addition to continuing to work with the Five Elements set we've been studying, and Eight Brocades, we'll be deepening our relationship with Six Healing Sounds, a powerful movement and meditation technique that participants can use to balance and refresh their energies in a matter of minutes. While we've worked with Six Healing Sounds in its formal setting along with Mantak Chia's Inner Smile meditation, we'll talk about how to use it as a practice on its own, and to integrate it with other practices, like Five Elements Qigong.
SUNDAY WORKSHOPS
In addition to regular classes, I'll be offering Sunday workshops at the Regent Centre in December 2018 and throughout 2019. Workshops are an opportunity to sink deeply into your practice for a longer period of time than the length of a class. The topics will vary, so watch this space for announcements, and if any of you have a request for workshop topics, please let me know! Previous workshops have included Qigong and various forms of meditation, Lok Hup Ba Fa, Sword, Tai Chi, and Push Hands.
Spiritual Development workshops, offered once monthly from my home, will also continue throughout the coming year.
CHANGE IN MONTHLY FEES
After many years of keeping my monthly rate as low as I can, it's time to acknowledge that inflation is affecting me as much as anyone else. At the same time, I need to address an imbalance in the fee structure that has meant that classes are not as accessible as they could be to people who work full-time.
As of October 2018, the monthly fee is $40. This rate applies to people who were previously paying the Senior's rate of $30. It also applies to people who were previously paying the regular rate of $60.
This rate does not apply to people who are in financial need, who are on ODSP, people under the age of 18, or students. The rate for people in any of these categories is still $20 / month.
Because classes are running from the beginning of October, starting on October 3rd, you will owe the full monthly rate for October. Note that the classes I run are still beginning the Friday after Thanksgiving, but Gillianne is available from the beginning of the month.
My goal with this fee change is to enable me to continue to offer classes. If for whatever reason this change will make attending class cost prohibitive for you, please talk to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment