Finding a calm center in Kanta Lipsky's virtual Balance Class.
Kanta Lipsky's "Virtual Balance Class," on Zoom every Monday and Friday at 11:30 am, leaves you feeling tranquilly balanced, both physically and mentally. The class is based on the Chinese wellness practice of chi kung (also spelled qigong). "Chi kung was the mother of tai chi, so it goes back some 5,000 years," Lipsky says. "It came out of Chinese medicine with the idea of practicing something that increases your vitality and prevents illness, rather than trying, like Western medicine, to fix something after you're already sick. This prevents illness because it raises your vital forces."
Just before the class began, students from all over, including Great Britain, came onscreen. You could tell those from Florida and California by the outdoor settings. Seasonal residents love that they can "take the class with them" when they leave the Island for the winter months. Given the cold weather on the Vineyard, I was pleased I could take it from the comfort of my own cozy home.
The class has a calm, steady pace, with Lipsky gently guiding us throughout. We began sitting in a chair, bringing awareness to our breath. We moved into simple head, neck, shoulder, and upper-body movements to warm up and loosen the muscles.
Once we stood, our movements flowed for about 15 minutes, starting and ending in a neutral stance, which Lipsky calls the balance pose. Your legs are slightly bent, your tail tucked under, the crown of your head reaching upward, shoulders relaxed, sternum lifted, and palms down just a few inches from your abdomen, as if resting on a large ball. You are ready to easily transition into another position.
The gentle, fluid movements have beautiful, evocative names such as Brushing the Mane, Light at the Temple, Prayer Wheel, and White Crane. For each, there are specific, easy arm gestures, and often a shifting of your body, either from side to side or front to back, with your feet separated sideways or front to back. You maintain a soft, intentional gaze, not staring at a single point: "Sometimes you are moving and turning to look where your hand is gesturing, and back to the center. But you're not allowing your eyes to wander, even when your head turns. It's a practice of looking without seeing."
Halfway through the class, we sat down again. With our palms together in a meditative, prayerlike pose, we allowed our breath to flow freely and easily. Lipsky noted that there are thousands of nerve endings in the hands, and connecting them sends messages of equanimity to the brain. When we stood up, it was time for a series of movements in a horse stance, which means standing with legs spread, as if straddling the back of a horse. Because my knees were bent and tail tucked in, I could feel my core muscles engage as we continued with simple upper-body movements. With my center of gravity lowered, I felt deeply rooted to the ground. This grounding sensation is key to balance, which is central to the class.
Lipsky told me of the class's origin, in 2017, when the West Tisbury library began a series to promote health in the aging community. Billed initially as a tai chi class, it didn't get a lot of traction. One day, brainstorming with several students, somebody mentioned how good it was for balance: "Everyone grabbed onto that, and said, Let's call it balance. Once the name was changed, it got a huge response, because everybody is concerned about their balance as they get a little bit older. We're not as strong as we used to be, so that class began from there, and the library has supported it ever since."
Sitting in our chairs at the end of class, Lipsky led us through a sequence of tapping on our arms, shoulders, breastbones, and along our arms and legs. It left me with a tingly, alive feeling, waking up the nerve endings. Lipsky says, "It comes from Chinese medicine, bringing blood and energy into the different muscles."
Lipsky, who taught yoga and is a massage therapist, brings a great deal of body awareness to the practice. With some 3,000 different varieties of chi kung, she has a choice from many movements when constructing her classes, which vary every time. One of the nice things about this wellness practice is that you can do the entire class sitting down. "We have a couple of people in the group who have had their hips replaced, need them to be replaced, or can't really stand up. But you get the same benefit from doing the movements and the intentional focus from a sitting position. It quiets your mind as you pay attention to how the movement goes. You can let go of all the busyness of your life."
After just two classes, I can attest that just as Lipsky hopes for all participants, I came away each time with a feeling of peace, vitality, clarity, and ease.