The Stone Guardian Apprenticeship is built on four cornerstones of care that we have seen most impactful on the populations we serve. These are Community Awareness, Orthopedic Acupuncture, Tuina Therapy and Qigong Acupuncture. The structure of our Apprenticeship cannot stand without all four solidly in place. Each cornerstone requires a foundation in and of itself. This first module is about preparing for Qigong Acupuncture.

Stone Guardian Apprenticeship Module One
Foundational Medical Qigong with Medical Qigong Palpation

Any Acupuncture school will tell you that two of the most important skillsets to develop are Qi cultivation and palpation. Arguably this should expand to a great many care modalities. Unfortunately while the value is clear, it is challenging to learn this in school while so many other things are being thrown at a student, so the schools do their best, we hope to build upon this.

Qi cultivation itself is a broad topic, as there are many different ways to cultivate Qi, some without even knowing you are doing it. Qigong takes this to a more active level. Gong translates to work and this is exactly what we do as Qigong practitioners, work with Qi. Many Acupuncture schools miss the mark when starting someones Qigong journey; starting right off with forms. Forms are great, but it is like learning to walk before you understand what legs are for. One may be able to fumble around and figure it out but oftentimes you don’t know what you have missed until it has been built.

This is where the Foundational Qigong comes in. This portion of the first module takes the study of Qigong back to the basics and fills in the gaps that many students missed, simply by taking the classes that were assigned in graduate school. We will also unpack and demystify this practice that is very much rooted in the physical world. By the end of this first portion, our hope it that you will learn some new skills and be able to reinforce what you may already be practicing.

From there we will move onto the second part of this first module which focuses on palpation, specifically utilizing Qigong to better inform one’s palpation of a client. Please do not mistake this as a replacement for proper anatomical palpation skills. Understanding this human anatomy is crucial to a safe practice. This simply adds a layer of gentle palpation that better focuses a practitioner. Be prepared to get up and move in this part of the class, as we will be utilizing a martial arts practice called Push Hands to better develop our awareness.

This course has been submitted for 4.5 units of AOM-OM to the National Certification Board for Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine for licensed acupuncturists. Any other license type that needs CEUs should verify with the appropriate licensing board prior to enrollment. Certificates shall only be given for those in attendance. All courses are fully refundable for those that cancel 90 days in advance. 50% refund will be provided for cancellation 30 to 90 days. No refunds will be provided with less than 30 days advance notice. Exceptions will be made for certain circumstances.