[Photo by Scott Phillips.]
Kathy Yep, professor of Asian American Studies at Pitzer College, guides a drop-in Qi Gong session in the garden Wednesday, Aug. 12, from 10:15 to 11 a.m.
Qi Gong integrates gentle movement, mindful breathing, focused awareness and aligned posture. Where Tai Chi is a martial art that folds Qi Gong principles into choreographed sequences, Qi Gong works more directly on cultivating internal energy through simpler, often stationary movements repeated in cycles.
Yep is not a visiting guest instructor. She brings more than 30 years of Qi Gong practice and teaching, is a tenured professor at the Claremont Colleges, and trained extensively in Wild Goose Qi Gong under the late Bingkun Hu and Paul Li in the Yang Meijun tradition. She also researches, publishes and teaches on Qi Gong in relation to public health and educational outcomes. She has used the practice in her Pitzer classes for two decades, framing it as a way of thinking about community and social responsibility rather than as individual exercise.
The timing is convenient. The same morning, the Chinese Medicinal Garden holds an open house from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with experts giving informal tours of the plant beds and answering questions.
Participants should bring comfortable shoes, water and a compassionate mindset. The session is educational and is not medical advice or treatment, and it may be canceled in the event of rain or excessive heat.
The drop-in Qi Gong session with Kathy Yep runs Wednesday, Aug. 12, from 10:15 to 11 a.m. Meet at the Chinese Medicinal Garden, The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road, in San Marino. For more information, call (626) 405-2100 or visit huntington.org. Included with general admission. Drop-in; no registration required.
