Category: Instructor Bios

Dr. Zhao is one of China’s top Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctors and Herbalists, and is one of only 80 doctors in all of China who passed the highest level Chinese Medical Tui Na and Massage exam last fall. He, like ZY Qigong’s Grandmaster Mingtang Xu, grew up in Henan Province, learning techniques from his grandfather that have been passed down through his family lineage. One acupressure method, called ‘Dian Xue’ in Chinese (referred to as one of the ‘Shaolin monk methods’) is no longer taught in schools or available in the current medical texts.

In addition, Dr. Zhao has spent a lifetime studying rare texts to learn most effective treatments.  Dr. Zhao is a much sought after healer in China; people travel from far distances to receive his care.  Karen Fletcher has been studying with Dr. Zhao at is clinic in Zhengzhou, China.  And Dr. Zhao has visited the US twice since 2009.  He is eager to share his special knowledge with students of the West, in order that traditional, older Chinese medical knowledge is preserved.  He works with needles, herbs and massage.

Dr. Zhao and EWWE are collaborating to develop a program of educational exchange, so Western acupuncturists and other health professionals can learn directly from Dr. Zhao, both in China and the US, both in person and with virtual lectures.  If interested please contact Karen Fletcher at  karen.dancingqi@gmail.com 

Master teacher Claire Guyu Johnson grew up in China, apprenticed by lineage holder of ZY Qigong, Mingtang Xu.  Part of her practice has included solitary meditations without food or water in Chinese and Tibetan caves.   Claire’s approach is heart centered, as opening the heart is one of the most effective entry ways to enter the subtle realm of energy (qi) and information.  This refined awareness helps us in unifying the body and mind, bringing coherency to our emotions, energy, physical being and spiritual being.  Through consistent practice of being in this awareness, being in the present, being in the body, one becomes a fuller and purer resemblance of  the “Zhen Rin”, or the true, genuine human being.  Claire teaches and heals throughout the US, Europe and China with her husband, Mongolian shaman and healer, Jerigtu.

Upcoming Events with Claire:

Teacher Jerigtu Borjigin, Mongolian shaman and healer, comes from a family of well-known shamans, healers, herbalists and Tibetan Buddhist Rinpoches.  His teaching and healing is strongly rooted in the endless earth and big heavens of the Mongolia grasslands and gathers power from his connection to the ancestors and lineages. He is the current lineage holder of Yi Jin Jing (Taoist Sinew Transforming Classic practice.)  Jerigtu travels with his wife Claire Guyu Johnson, teaching and practicing Qigong and traditional Mongolian medicine in the US, Europe and Asia.

Upcoming Events with Jerigtu:

A cultural anthropologist, writer, certified qigong instructor and wilderness expedition leader, Karen is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and holds a Masters in Public Health from UC Berkeley. She is a private student of ZY Qigong Grandmaster Xu Mingtang and has studied intensively with him at Shaolin Monastery in China and has traveled with him worldwide. She is also a private student and translator to one of China’s top Master Chinese Medicine doctors, Dr. Zhao Fuxue.

Karen speaks and teaches qigong in nonprofit and corporate settings and at conferences such as Seattle Bioneers, Women of Wisdom and Oregon State University’s Annual Gerontology Conference. In addition, she is the innovator of QiDancing (a unique combination of qigong and dance) and teaches it internationally. As founding board president of the North American ZY Qigong not for profit foundation, Karen is a bridge between East and West cultures.

Karen has studied Barefoot EarthWisdom ways for many years with Mick “The Barefoot Sensei” Dodge and leads qigong and earth-based movement programs at renowned retreat centers including Breitenbush Hot Springs in Oregon and Omega Institute in New York. She also leads wilderness events and treks in the Pacific Northwest and in Western China. She combines the fundamentals of Qigong practice with trainings that include work with stones, staffs, and ropes with trees. Karen helps people reconnect with our Earth and ancient and modern wisdom to ignite inner Joy.

 For more info on events, workshops, weekly classes and China Wilderness treks, see Karen’s website at: QiDancing.com.

She regularly travels to and studies in China; visit her blog and join her China adventures:

Being Joy: Adventures in Qigong and the Mystic Arts in China.

Upcoming Events with Karen:

Jean Clough has been studying Qigong since 2000, training with Grandmaster Mingtang Xu as a personal student, and with Claire Johnson, both of the ZY Qigong lineage.  She also studies Taoist Medicine, Tui Na and Qigong with Dr. Liu Dong and Master Liu He of Ling Gui Qigong School. A Level 1 ZY Qigong instructor since 2005 and Level 2 since 2013, Jean teaches regularly in the Seattle area, and has developed and led several “Hiking Qigong” adventures combining Qigong practice with trail hiking in the forests and mountains of Puget Sound. She owns and runs Seattle Advanced Bodywork Associates, a twelve-person massage, acupuncture and energy work clinic, where she has a busy massage/energy healing practice herself. Jean is also a Reiki Master and a Certified Wilderness Leader through the Wilderness Education Association.  In addition, she is a Certified Spiritual Healer and Licensed Minister with S.H.E.S, the Church of Spiritual Healing and Earth Stewardship.   Jean was  a founding member of ZY Qigong non-profit organization, and is the director of East West Wellness Enterprise.

Jean says, “I am  inspired by the power and healing available through Qigong training. Gaining expertise with your own body’s language is an amazing journey. When we pause and listen we can tune in to what is needed. I hope to be like a music appreciation teacher who helps students hear what was always there: the harmonies and discordance in our own bodies. With practice, students bring body and mind into harmony, which is to say wellness and energetic flow, with self and the universe.”

Upcoming Events with Jean: