Mindful Yoga & YogaQi at GateWay
This page provides an overview of the Yoga and YogaQi classes we offer at GateWay. Although many of our students have practiced yoga for decades, still others are newcomers. Whether you're looking for an alternative to fast-paced vinyasa and hot yoga, or mindful exercise that's safe and easy on your body, we believe you'll appreciate the creativity our teachers offer and the welcoming warmth of our studio..
Visit our Calendar for the class schedule.
Gentle & All Levels Yoga
Instructor: Terry Farish, RYT 200, has taught at GateWay since we opened in 2012.
In our gentle and all-levels yoga classes, students enjoy a series of postures designed to increase flexibility, strength, balance, range of motion and stability. You will move through a series of traditional postures, from seated to kneeling to standing to lying on your mat.
Although carefully choreographed to avoid strain and injury to the joints, gentle yoga does not mean "easy." You will still get a great stretch and leave invigorated.
Modifications are offered for each pose and suggestions are made in the use of supportive props. Each student is encouraged to let their body be their guide as they move to their gentle edge. No yoga experience is necessary.
Terry’s yoga classes draw on the idea of yoga poses as physical metaphors in the body for a state of mind people seek to cultivate in themselves. She includes poses and breath work in her class that work to build strength, balance, and mindfulness.
YogaQiTM
Instructor: Rebecca Gould, co-owner of GateWay Taiji, Qigong & Yoga, has studied yoga for over 35 years.
YogaQi® (pronounced "yoga chee") uses flowing Qigong exercises and Yoga postures to stretch, energize and relax your entire body. It combines breathing, movement and mental focus to explore, enhance and circulate the body’s Qi, the Chinese word for vital energy.
Each class is different, playful and fun, and suitable for people of all fitness levels. New to Qigong? This class will introduce you to easy-to-follow movements from many different qigong practices including Five Animal Sports, Eight Pieces of Brocade, Four Seasons Qigong, the Coiling Set, White Crane Qigong, Taiji Ball Qigong and the 18 Luohan.
All classes include:
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A flowing, refreshing workout that’s easy on your joints
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A whole-body stretch, self-massage and core strengthening
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Energy flow to your internal organs, muscles and connective tissue
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Mindful attention to how your body feels and moves
GateWay owners Bill Buckley and Rebecca Gould demonstrate "Turn the Head to Look at the Moon," a movement designed to stretch and open the kidney channels. Versions of it show up in several Qigong sets, including Four Seasons Qigong, the 18 Luohan and Five Animal Sports. In YogaQi, we blend flowing movements like this with traditional yoga postures.
YogaQi is a Unique Blend of Hatha Yoga and Qigong
Historical Roots
Yoga philosophy references and texts date back prior to 1700 BCE, but Hatha yoga postures, beyond those used for seated meditation, have only received focus since the 14th Century.
Since that time, yoga postures have been systematically developed and refined to support and promote physical health and prepare the body for meditation. There are many styles of yoga taught today, most of them stemming from traditional Hatha Yoga.
Qigong dates back to approximately 1000 BCE, and began as a practice of coordinated movement and breathing designed to promote health and energy flow in the body. Depictions of Qigong movements have been found in tombs and dated to 163BCE and before.
Two Ancient Arts Come Together
Around 500-700 AD, both of these arts intermingled when Bodhidharma, the famous Indian monk, came to China, settled at the Shaolin Temple, and created the two classics, “Muscle Tendon Changing” and “Brain Marrow washing.” These texts, and Bodhidharma’s teachings, expanded traditional medical Qigong and mingled it with movement & Zen, clearly integrating Buddhist and Indian elements into this traditional Chinese philosophy. Similarly, Nalanda University in Bihar, India and other institutions formed around this time, allowed Chinese influence (like those of the famous Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang) to establish themselves in the Hindu and Buddhist traditions.
By creating YogaQi®, GateWay founder Bill Buckley reconnected these two arts in their current stage of evolution - bringing the best of both into a contemporary class. BIll Buckley's Yoga and Qigong credentials.