One World….One Breath
Typically held the last Saturday in April, World Tai Chi and Qigong Day (WTCQD) educates millions worldwide about the benefits of Tai Chi and Qigong. Over the last two decades, this phenomenon has grown, and now spans six continents, creating a “worldwide wave of Tai Chi and Qigong." People from all fifty states and over eighty nations come together to “wrap the world” in a global Tai Chi and Qigong vision and movement, which has as its primary mission, global and personal, health and healing.
As you might expect, now, when the world needs it most, WTCQD has postponed until the last Saturday in May. However, public health education programs to Boost Immunity will run from April 25 through May 30, in order to offer humanity methods of stress management.
Past celebrations have taken place throughout the world and included such landmarks as the United Nations Building and the Nobel Peace Center. We can’t congregate in large groups this year, but everyone is encouraged to do Tai Chi and/or Qigong at 10 a.m. local time. It can be in a public space if you can ensure social distancing, otherwise your backyard or even your home will work.
The event begins in New Zealand, then spreads across Australia, Asia, Europe, Africa and North and South America. The final event takes place in Hawaii, nearly a day later. And while we are in different time zones, we are connected by, and all part of, the web of life: One World. One Breath.
The first Tai Chi Day was held in 1998, in Kansas City, MO by the Kansas City Tai Chi Club. Nearly two hundred people attended, and it grew over the next several years into a national, then international, event. WTCQD was founded by Bill Douglas and Angela Wong Douglas in 2011, with millions of people from sixty-five nations attending. Over half the states in the US, as well by several nations, have now officially proclaimed the last Saturday in April as WTCQD.
WTCQD educates the world about medical research being done on the health benefits of Tai Chi and Qigong, as well as the increasing use of Traditional Chinese Medicine in business, education, healthcare, and penal and drug rehabilitation. In fact, WTCQD inspired what is now known as World Healing Day.
Even though WTCQD is currently planned for May 30th, that is of course subject to change. Keep an eye on the website for updates, as well as for resources and news. You can even order your own WTCQD t-shirt.
So tune in to the worldwide wave of qi and consciousness. Let’s play Tai Chi and/or Qigong on April 25th at 10 a.m., wherever you are!