World Tai Chi and Qigong Day
One World for All of Us
“One World, One Breath” is the idea to hold in mind and heart. Photo showing the blue marble in space by Javier Miranda at Unsplash.
World Tai Chi and Qigong Day (WTCQD) is a special annual event that takes place on the last Saturday of April, starting at 10 AM in each time zone across the planet. As people come together to practice Tai Chi and Qigong forms in their time zone, the event creates a wonderful wave of conscious breathing across the planet for many hours, which can be thought of as a vigil or watch. Per the international dateline, the vigil begins with New Zealand’s 10:00am Saturday, April 26, which corresponds with 3:00pm, Friday, April 25, here in the Pacific Time Zone. As the clocks move ahead, when 10:00am, Saturday, April 26, strikes in each nation, the wave of cultivation and good intention can be felt across the planet for the approximate span of just under 24 hours. The truly unique aspect of this day is the collective intention of communities worldwide quietly coming together in consciousness to hold the intention to cultivate a quiet mind aware of breath, mind, and body. Together in this day of practice, we can experience our shared humanity on a grand scale. The power of the collective generates a wave of consciousness and shared purpose, and this is what we celebrate on World Tai Chi and Qigong Day. The event was originally conceived by teachers, Bill and Angela Douglas, but since its inception many years ago, it has taken on a life of its own. Read more about the event here.
That last Saturday in April can be a moment of collective awe when we consider how our shared experience on this rotating planet allows us to connect with others globally. By consciously breathing together, we acknowledge our interconnectedness as living beings sharing the same earthly experience.
As someone who has practiced and lead mindbody arts for many years, this day holds a deep significance for me. I like to think of it as a full day to “slow dance with the world.” I have celebrated this holiday with small and large groups, dear friends, and fellow players every year when we have come together to do the slow Qigong and Tai Chi movements knowing that others are also doing some form of practice at the same time or on the same day. So, I encourage you to seek out a local group to participate in this experience directly. Alternatively, you can join in spirit simply by being aware of the event, which can help you sense into it. At times in the past, those 24 hours of conscious Qi circulating the globe have felt alive and vital, like reaching out across the great divide to others in the vastness. You may get messages in the form of images and elevated feelings of inspiration and vitality as you practice on that day. I have experienced the Great Wave of Practice as a heady and exciting feeling of being in love, being moved to tears, and feeling healed and renewed in body and mind on this day. It is a day when “the infinitesimal and the infinite” are one in consciousness.
The special day is an opportunity to connect with yourself and others, regardless of physical location. Imagine your awareness extending across the planet so that you touch into the experience of the collective, our shared humanity. Perhaps you may touch into the world's pain and hardship so that you can meet it with love and compassion. You can elevate your own thoughts and feelings to become a source of love and hope and simplicity of pure being. Holding such intent, you can enfold the world in peace and spaciousness in the heart and mind. As a global community, the collective can find strength in current difficulties and challenges and foster trust in one another for our shared well-being and understanding of one another.
And so it is.
I invite you to either join a local group or tune in in consciousness at 10 AM on Saturday, April 26th, in your own time zone, to participate in this collective consciousness. If you are local, please do consider joining us in person on the day (details are here).
However you choose to participate, take a moment to feel that sense of connection, force, or energy – what we call “qi.” Qi is the information exchanged between beings, and it has a physical presence you can sense, vibes and emotions you can feel, and thoughts and ideas that you can express. World Tai Chi and Qigong Day can then be a conscious decision to express the highest and the best we know and offer it to one another as a shared breath together.