“Qigong touched me from the beginning”

“It all really started with qigong.  My interest in qigong started when I was a beginning level practitioner of yoga in Portland, Oregon.  As a young, novice yoga student I was enlivened by the renewed level of energy I felt after a strong class.  At that point I was only aware of the physical reality of my body and the effects of yoga for detoxification.  I was so grateful I had found something so nourishing in a physical practice that wasn’t in a gym.  But it wasn’t until I began to practice qigong that I began to realize I was only seeing the tip of the iceberg.  How much of my experience of myself I had been missing?  Qigong touched me from the beginning.  It was the very first experience of a quieting of the mind and it could only have been induced by the slow, methodical movement which allowed the mind to calm, to relax and, at last, to rest!  I felt as though I were lifted and transported far away and then returned to see my body from a different point of view.”  Eventually I was able to start to find the same kind of solace in my yoga practice.  By that time yoga and qigong were a solid foundations in my life.  As spiritual practices they were each unassailable and yet unique teachers in my never ending path toward self.”

Qigong and yoga became the source and return, the growth and the stability, the foundation from which he would move into the world.  “I am profoundly committed to growth through integration.  After studying qigong and yoga for many years in the U.S, in 2009 I began a journey through Europe, Northern Africa, India, Nepal and Thailand to deepen and refine my experience of these modalities and to seek new therapies such as massage, meditation and dance that became essential components of Spirit Dome Qigong. I believe that a disciplined sacred physical practice is my personal path to transformation, authenticity with myself, and eventually to self-mastery.”

Atithi currently lives in Athens, Greece and teaches workshops, events and classes at  Χοροχώρος (the physical site of Spirit Dome Qigong.) He continues to travel to Europe, Asia and North America teaching that which, through continual refinement and disciplined practice, unceasingly becomes his experience of the old ways to offer them to seekers of the present day.

Background

Atithi is a Sacred Taoist Sexuality teacher, Tantra teacher and Qigong and Yoga instructor.  He also practices Thai massage and has been trained in acupuncture and East Asian medicine.

Qigong & Taijiquan- Though he has studied various forms of qigong, his primary source of understanding and influence of this art began in Portland, Oregon in 2003 with a teacher who had lived in China for many years and taught his own version of Qigong and the old style Yang form of Taijichuan.

Sacred Taoist Sexuality-  The following teachings and techniques are the Taoist elements of Atithi’s repertoire to be shared during private sessions, couple’s sessions and in class and workshop settings.

• Internal qigong
• Taoist self-cultivation practices
• Sound Healing techniques through qigong toning
• Taoist sexual physiology
• Healing sexual positions
• Diet regimes for sexual health and vitality

East Asian Medicine– Since 2016 Atithi has been a formal student of Classical and Traditional Chinese Medicine.  He has studied with a variety of teachers in such varied modalities as TCM, Worsley Five Element Acupuncture, Hunyuan, Stems & Branches, Balance method and Master Tung method.  In the near future Atithi will be offering acupuncture, herbs and eventually tuina as additional forms of therapy.

Tantra-  Atithi and his partner, Kalpita completed the 3-year Soul Mate training with renowned Tantra teacher Ma Ananda Sarita.  They have created their own web-site (Tao & Tantra) which is dedicated to the co-mingling of these two vast traditions and the belief, through experience, that they compliment and refine each other.

Yoga- Atithi’s yoga background is more diverse and longer lived than qigong.  It includes studies with Sivananda yoga in Kerala, India; Agama Yoga in Rishikesh, India and Ko Phangan, Thailand; as well as teacher in the U.S.

Meditation- Through the course of his spiritual journey across Europe, the Indian subcontinent and southeast asia Atithi became interested in the inner process of meditation.  He includes Vipassana, Hridaya (Sacred Heart), Raja Yoga, Mahayana Buddhist meditation, tantric transfiguration and the variety of OSHO meditations as influential on his path.

Thai Massage- From the winter 2010 to the spring of 2011 Atithi lived and traveled in Thailand and received two certifications for northern and southern styles of Thai massage: International Training Massage School in Chiang Mai, and Crystal Healing in Ko Phangan.

Reiki- Atithi is a second degree Reiki practitioner.  He is conscious of drawing Reiki in qigong, yoga and in massage.

Dance-  Dance and other forms of ecstatic movement are essential tools for self-awareness.  Through personal experience with meditative dance in India and elsewhere Atithi has come to know this deeply.