Video Archive - YouTube Session 020620 Alex Chew

Todays session https://youtu.be/sgsE_AUeEH4

Best wishes

Alex

Video Archive - YouTube Session 190520

Link to yesterday, Tuesday 19th May 2020

https://youtu.be/Rr9IKyac-kE


Best wishes everyone, staying sane and healthy

Video Archive - YouTube Session 070520

Todays Session Link

https://youtu.be/kNP9jth7eb0

Welcome to all those who are new, so do join us for our session next Tuesday.

Best wishes Alex

Video Archive - YouTube Session 050520

Todays Session Link

https://youtu.be/TPexghroU3I

Today Sessions – Tuesday 5^th May 2020

 

Today Sessions – All movement comes from the waist, whether it is a hand movement or a step. Make the waist cause each movement. The waist as the “ruler” must be relaxed, initiating, controlling, guiding and distributing the direction and amount of energy transmitted.

Warm-Up

ShiBaShi Set -1 Complete Set

Break

 ShiBaShi Set 2 Review & Revise

5.  Fisherman casting the nets

6.  Immortal points the way

7.  Mischievous boy kicks with legs

8.  Holy crane worships the moon

Break

ShiBaShi Set 2 - Instructions – Next 4 movements

9.  Yellow Dragon pushes out with claws

10. Pulling the bow to shoot the eagle

11. Twin dragons emerging from the sea

12. Crossing the wild blue ocean

·      ShiBaShi Set -2 Doing Complete Set

Video Archive - YouTube Session 280420

Link to todays session Tuesday 28th April 2020.

Today Sessions – let your mind direct your movements and the body, keeping it fully conscious, aware and with intent.

·      Warm-Up

·      ShiBaShi Set -1 Doing Complete Set

·      Break

·      ShiBaShi Set 2 Review & Revise

1.   Regulating the Qi

2.  Leading the Qi along the Microcosmic Orbit

3.  Wind that blows the willow

4.  Searching for needles at the bottom of the sea

·      ShiBaShi Set 2 - Instructions – Next 4 movements

5.  Fisherman casting the nets

6.  Immortal points the way

7.  Mischievous boy kicks with legs

8.  Holy crane worships the moon

·      Break

·      ShiBaShi Set -2 Doing Complete Set

https://youtu.be/0cWwzU43fso

Best wishes Alex

Video Archive - YouTube Session 230420

Here is todays session Thursday 23rd April 2020 link to YouTube

https://youtu.be/NSgoiotoU6k

Best wishes Alex

Video Archive - YouTube Session 210420

This is the link for the session on Tuesday 21st March 2020. We covered ShiBaShi Set 1, revising movements 15 to 18 and introduce ShiBaShi Set 2, movements 1 to 4. We also focus on relaxing the neck, suspending the head at the Bahui point on the crown, allowing the head and neck to be aligned by the gravity, thus sinking the qi from the upper Darien to the lower dantien.

https://youtu.be/QWYUDm_upfc

Video Archive - YouTube Session 070420

This is the link for the session on Tuesday 7th March 2020. We covered ShiBaShi Set 1, revising movements 1 to 10 and introduce movements 11 to 14. We also focus on the Kua/pelvis/waist and its role to shift the chi and centre of gravity down and the central role it plays in coordinate and harnessing the power from the feet to the shoulders and hands.

https://youtu.be/daTNqTuXYHM

* Unfortunately the Thursday session 9th March 2020, I do not seem to have the ZOOM recordings. I may have forgotten to resume the recording when I had pause it and won't be able to upload that session to YouTube. So sorry.

Week 2 - My thoughts/reflections

There is always something new to learn, the benefit from the “protegee effect” and I suppose that’s what keeps me motivated as a lifelong learner, learning by teaching. The second week of Creative Calm provided the challenges and opportunities for learning as I struggle to find a solution to poor sound quality and what would the best “view” for the audience in learning and acquiring physical skills where spatial referencing is key.

Audio becomes important when you are using music to accompany your live streaming and broadcasting. The previous recordings of the sessions onto YouTube alerted me as well as the feedback from the participants. I soon realised that ZOOM by default is built to focus on speech as their main concern thus the compression to enable smooth speech means a compromise on the background music. To optimise the accompany music for our Tai Chi Qigong ShiBaShi practice I finally discovered how you can tweak the audio settings to get a better quality. Hopefully this means you are able now to receive better audio quality during the streaming session and in the recordings.

The other issue was setting my ZOOM video to “mirror-view” which should normally allow the viewer to follow along easier. This discussion became complicated, so I have now posted markers as to my right and left in the video so that the viewer can reference their movements as to where their left is and where their right is. The only complication is when I have my back to the viewer, thankfully is rare I think only one movement in ShiBaShi Set 6. 

I have also broken down and introduce practice themes in the Tuesday sessions where it can provide a selected focus as well for practice on Thursday routines and outside sessions during individual practice. To get the best and benefit the most out of the Tai Chi Qigong sessions, it is worth the trouble to become more familiar or to be verse in the basic principles of the practice itself or else it is more likely to be limited to being a relaxing, recreational physical health exercise routine. For many this in itself is fine without minimising such benefits that it brings for many. 

My intention was to offer information and skills set should the individual wish to pursue their interest in advancing their understanding and practice of Tai Ci and Qigong. So, for this week, Week 2, we focus on “Grounding/Rooting”…Earthing, ” This is not only fundamentally relevant and crucial in qigong and tai chi practice but also in counselling/psychotherapy, developmental psychology, play therapy, creative therapies, dance/movement therapy, trauma, attachment, insecurity  related issues, spiritual healing, complementary therapy, yoga practice etc, etc, All this could be discussed and explored in the ZOOM Chat Group if there is an interest in wanting to pursue such integration. Critical questions of what, how, when, with who, would definitely help to generate the beginning for such integration across disciplines.

I hope by sharing my thoughts and reflections, you may be inclined to engage and offer your own thoughts, views, feedback, comments, make enquiries etc  in ZOOM group chat room.

Many thanks, best wishes & stay healthy, sane and safe…..and grounded! 

Namaste Alex

Please note that ZOOM by default now requires a password to enter a meeting room.

Alex Chew is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Creative Calm
Time: Tuesday Apr 7, 2020 01:00 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/5410388918?pwd=WkdRVmh5T2ZsVFpRMjQzRm1oVFQwdz09

Meeting ID: 541 038 8918
Password: 776853

See notification from ZOOM

Dear Valued Customer, We’re always striving to deliver you a secure virtual meeting environment. Starting April 5th, we’ve chosen to enable passwords on your meetings and turn on Waiting Rooms by default as additional security enhancements to protect your privacy. Meeting Passwords Enabled “On” Going forward, your previously scheduled meetings (including those scheduled via your Personal Meeting ID) will have passwords enabled. If your attendees are joining via a meeting link, there will be no change to their joining experience. For attendees who join meetings by manually entering a Meeting ID, they will need to enter a password to access the meeting.  For attendees joining manually, we highly recommend re-sharing the updated meeting invitation before your workweek begins. Here’s how you can do that: Log in to your account, visit your Meetings tab, select your upcoming meeting by name, and copy the new meeting invitation to share with your attendees. For step-by-step instructions, please watch this 2-minute video or read this FAQ. For meetings scheduled moving forward, the meeting password can be found in the invitation. For instant meetings, the password will be displayed in the Zoom client. The password can also be found in the meeting join URL. Virtual Waiting Room Turned on by Default Going forward, the virtual waiting room feature will be automatically turned on by default. TheWaiting Room is just like it sounds: It’s a virtual staging area that prevents people from joining a meeting until the host is ready.  How do I admit participants into my meeting?  It’s simple. As the host, once you’ve joined, you’ll begin to see the number of participants in your waiting room within the Manage Participants icon. Select Manage Participants to view the full list of participants, then, you’ll have the option to admit individually by selecting the blue Admit button or all at once with the Admit All option on the top right-hand side of your screen.  For step-by-step instructions, please watch this 2-minute video. Check out these resources to learn How to Manage Your Waiting Room and Secure Your Meetings with Virtual Waiting Rooms. For more information on how to leverage passwords and Waiting Rooms to secure your meetings, please visit our Knowledge Center, attend a daily live demo, or visit our Blog. Please reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions at support@zoom.us. Thank You! Team Zoom

Video Archive - YouTube Session 020420

The link for Thursday's session on the 2nd April 2020 that has been uploaded to YouTube. 

https://youtu.be/3HZe5g9dAYA

Please join the Creative Calm Zoom Chat Group if you require further resources. Best wishes Alex

Video Archive - YouTube Session 310320

This is the link for Tuesday session on the 31st March 2020 that has been uploaded to YouTube. 

https://youtu.be/cbNrXLK-k7c 

Why did I start Creative Calm

Greetings family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances and to everybody confronted with the current major transitional life challenges that has descended upon us recently. Having just returned to UK very recently after spending some weeks in Malaysia, Singapore and Taipei to witness what seems to me like a reminder of an old episode from the 60’s TV series ‘The Twilight Zone’ with empty airports, streets, shelves, and to some rather primal though not unanticipated human reactions etc. to the current lockdown crisis nearly everywhere, I decided to create a digital space and share with the wider community what may offer a helpful resource to increase our body-mind resiliency against our own reactive ‘reptilian part of our brain’ which includes the amygdala for a more creative and skilful response to the current global ‘threat’.

I am also hoping that the above initiative though not seeking to replace actual physical person-to-person communication, a telepresence through digitally mediated communication that can contribute to our innate need for ‘human connectedness’ and ameliorate the social isolation during this critical period. This is prompted by my awareness that the regular weekly Thursday afternoon Tai Chi Qigong class in Harrow that I was looking forward in continuing to facilitate on my return for obvious reasons now, due to the current ‘lockdown’ will no longer be viable. I am aware for many of the participants from the senior community, the sessions have become not only an important avenue for promoting a healthy body-mind but also an important source for the social health of the community.

This initiative is also intended for our practitioners, volunteers and service users at The Centre for Creative Arts in Penang, Malaysia, given they are in a similar ‘lockdown’ position with our mental health community initiatives with schools having to be suspended for the time being. This online initiative will also utilise the opportunity during this period for skills development as it resonates with our primary objectives of cultivating positive mental health, developing psychological resiliency in schools through mindfulness-based creative arts therapy where body-mind skills approaches is integral for and during such interventions.

How will the online sessions be conducted? There will a Live Video Streaming scheduled weekly on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 1.30pm to 3.00pm (Greenwich Mean Time)(+8 hours Malaysian local time). The first Live Video Broadcast event will be on the 24th March 2020. On Tuesdays, the structure of the session will be geared towards introducing the basics of Qigong Practice, the main principles associated with qigong practice, guided instructions of each movement and will contain relevant warm-ups, introducing Tai Chi Qigong 18 Motions Set 1 and 2 (ShiBaShi) Practice including Sitting Qigong Practices. As and if relevant, in pursuing and following participants interests and enquiries that may arise, the wider relationships to process oriented philosophy, mindfulness practice, body-oriented psychotherapy/counselling, creative arts therapies and complementary therapies etc

although not in any order or a necessity. The WhatsApp’s forum will offer such a platform for those who may such queries and interest. On Thursdays, the session will follow our previous regular Tai Chi Qigong class albeit through live streaming, starting with around 10- 15 mins of warm-up, ShiBaShi Set 1, Tai Chi 8 Form, followed by a 5-10 mins break, then Shi BaShi Set 2 and another 5-10 mins break and finally ShiBaShi Set 6, alternate with the following Thursday with ShiBaShi Set 3 and ShiBaShi Set 5.

For discussions, sharing experiences, feedback, questions, comments, etc I have created a WhatsApp Group - Creative Calm, and have sent out the invitation so do let me know if you would like to be added to the group for I may have miss you out during my initial invitation.

To access the Live Video Streaming sessions, I will be posting the links on my Facebook page (Go to https://www.facebook.com/alex.chew.378) and in the Creative Calm WhatsApp group. I will be using Periscope (Go to https://www.pscp.tv and type in Creative Calm in the Search Box – Upper left corner of your monitor screen with the magnifying glass icon), and ZOOM.
(https://zoom.us/j/5410388918 - you may need to download and run ZOOM, its free, if you do not have the app) to stream the sessions. If you cannot make it to the session in real time, not worry as I will be archiving the video sessions for you to view and practice with me at a time that is more convenient to you. (Please note that there is an the update below on how to access the Live Video Streaming Classes)

So with all the constant messages of self-isolation, self-quarantine, ‘lockdown’, social distancing etc that is permeating and dominating personal and collective consciousness/unconscious, remember we can choose to reframe those messages as opportunities for self-contemplation, self-nurturance, self-empowerment, and find and regain our own balance, centre and our ground. I hope you can join us in Creative Calm, and to enjoy and have fun generating and radiating a positive synergy to bring more balance the current ‘disequilibrium’.

Namaste 

Alex 19/03/2020

***********************

*As of 31st March 2020, I will streaming only on ZOOM. 

How can I participate in the Creative Calm - Health Qigong 4 Stressful Times event?

• The sessions are streamed live twice weekly, every Tuesdays and Thursdays. 
• To access the ZOOM Room, you need internet access, enter the url https://zoom.us/j/5410388918 see below of the screen shot.

• The Creative Calm room is opened from 1.00pm (British Summer Time or 1200GMT) which is  8pm Malaysian local time. You will see a pre-session notification screen shot below for this coming Tuesdays session. Remember this notification is only up from 1pm until the formal session starts at 1.30pm.

• On entering the room please mute your video and audio, you can say hello to the arriving participants using the chat window. See screen shot below

• The formal session will start at 1.30pm with two short breaks in between an during the rest periods you may want to refresh your self with drinks, have a chat, ask questions etc using the chat window.
• The session concludes at 3pm but the room will remain open for a further 20mins for discussion, feedback, questions and you will see the post session notification with information and of the next session on Thursday. See screen shot below

• The videos of the session will be posted in YouTube allowing you to continue your practice. The link to the videos will be posted here in the blog.
• You are also invited to join the ZOOM Creative Calm Chat Group where you may wish to share your experiences, questions, clarifications and explore the finer points of the practice, its psychology/philosophy etc in relation to your own interest whether it is mind-body health, complementary therapy, counselling/psychotherapy, creative arts therapy etc. You need to let me know so that I could add you to my ZOOM contacts and send the invite for your to join.

I hope the about information will get you started. Let me know if you require further clarification and have other queries. 

Video Archive - YouTube Session 260320

This is the link to the edited video for Thursday's session minus the warm-ups and ShiBaShi Set 1 routine which I had forgotten to resume the ZOOM recording button. It contains Tai Chi 8, ShiBaShi Set 2 and ShiBaShi Set 6 routines that we did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8qgQbhuRbM

Week 1 - my thoughts/reflections

I’m sharing some of my thoughts and reflections after the first week of Creative Calm. Setting up the structure for live video broadcasting for a physically based instructional learning activity I am made aware that there is definitely a lot more things I need to consider in this initiative. 

There are obvious differences from previous experiences of delivering Video Podcasts and Online CPPD e-learning programmes. Deciding which latest apps to use was my first decision, having researched and tested a number of what is currently available in the Social Networking Media, I decided on Periscope and ZOOM. 

Periscope is a new adoption for me as I have been using ZOOM for delivering online action learning CPPD programmes. Periscope was chosen based on ease of access for members of the public who may not have the confidence or familiarity with the more complex communication app like ZOOM. 

Here in Periscope I am assuming that there will be those cross continental viewers who wish to just drop-in and drop-out anonymously at will without having their need to engage with the presenter or socialised with other participants in contrast with ZOOM; where such opportunities are consciously encouraged and cultivated to grow a more discernible social community around a number of “well-being” interest and issues. 

Periscope as an app, limits its broadcasting via the mobile phone which means having to clumsily set up my mobile phone with less options and control to record the 3 hours of live video every Tuesday and Thursday. I have to be mindful of the location of the where it can be connected to a power source, having a long enough lightning charging cable, a suitable view angle etc.  

Creating a chronological sequence or narrative was the other thing I had to give some thought to after the first session to the event. This resulted in posting a pre-session notification and screen share the notification during the first half hour before the formal qigong session. 

My intention was re-create a virtual social ‘waiting area’ digitally where participants are welcomed and introduced into the space, with information about ‘room’ protocol, and anticipated events about to take place. It also invites and encourages arriving participants to engage with each other, starting with ‘lead-in’ structures and suggestions until hopefully, ‘norms’ will be developed as the group get to know each other.

I thought of marking the transition of one activity to the next by sounding the bowl giving a clearer demarcation of the chronological sequence from one activity to the next and of rest breaks. I felt to end the session needed a warming-down/closure period thus using of the post-session posting like the pre-session posting and time to engage in interacting with the participants who may wish to remain just to connect and a sense of social closure even if it’s just to say goodbye.

I note that the sound quality on reviewing the video upload onto Youtube is poor and with a bit of lag. I am not sure what options there might be to improve on them.

Decide how best to archived and post the videos of the session, seems Youtube to be most viable and in terms of ease for upload and download. Initially I had set upon using  the Whatsapp group as the main platform for sharing and posting links, resources, handouts, etc and for participant to do likewise with their suggestions, queries, question and resources. I have reconsider and have change my mind and have instead chosen to use Google ‘Blogger’ generally communicate and archive the links to the Youtube videos and the sharing of various media resources.

I set myself certain reminders for next week’s practice sessions.

·      Alert participants in Malaysia of the British Summer Time which means it will an hour earlier (+7 hours GMT) meaning the ZOOM room opens at 8pm.

·      The Tuesday instructions to offer front, back and side view as each exercise of the ShiBaShi is being introduced and demonstrated. Focus on a specific principal theme of the practice.

·      Set ZOOM video settings to ‘mirror’ helping participants to follow my movements and orientating their left/right side easier as if they are observing themselves in a mirror when they are viewing my movements in the video.

·      Announce that the WhatsApp Group will be now defunct and invite participants to use ZOOM chat group instead.

·      Announce I will not be streaming from Periscope after Tuesday and will only stream from ZOOM.

I hope by sharing my thoughts and reflections, you may be inclined to engage and offer your own thoughts, views, feedback, comments, make enquiries etc  in ZOOM group chat room.

Many thanks, best wishes & stay healthy, sane and safe 

Namaste Alex