Today we’d like to introduce you to Brent Thomas
Hi Brent, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I was first introduced to qi gong when I discovered “Taoist Secrets of Love: Cultivating Male Sexual Energy” by Mantak Chia in a local bookstore in the late ’90s. I quickly became a believer in the power of qi gong and over the years I kept finding myself wanting to learn more and go deeper. That eventually led to me enrolling and graduating from the Texas College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 2007. As I have continued to devote myself (sometimes reluctantly) to the practice and have committed to incorporating it into my routine as a lifestyle it has provided me with a sense of clarity of purpose as well as giving me the strength and peace to deal with adverse and challenging situations when they arise. I consider myself a qi gong practitioner/enthusiast and it is one of my passions to share this amazing healing art with others! I currently teach weekly classes at Shuniya Yoga Collective and offer occasional qi gong training programs and retreats. I am the founder of Golden Monkey Qi Gong, Qi Resource, and Qi Retreats.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
For most of us and potentially all of us life is never a completely smooth journey and a lot of times adversity is what helps us to grow and develop. I have dealt with my share of challenges and set backs along the way from financial to personal. The practice of qi gong over the years has been an anchor of tranquility for me helping me to see the bigger picture of life being more about spiritual growth than materialistic gain. In qi gong we take our focus inward to cultivate a sense of peace and happiness within ourselves as a tool to help deal with outward unpleasant circumstances. One take away I would mention is that qi gong is not a “quick fix” for dealing with one’s problems. From my experience it has been the culmination of and commitment to making it a priority to practice that has led to the benefits of handling adversity with more grace and perseverance as well as enhancing my ability to see solutions to problems in more of an effortless way.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I have been studying qi gong for over 25 years and have been teaching it for over a dozen. I graduated from the Texas College of Traditional Chinese Medicine with a Masters degree in Oriental Medicine. I am passionate about sharing my love of qi gong with others and founded Golden Monkey Qi Gong, Qi Resource and Qi Retreats as vehicles to share this knowledge. I taught for many years at the Paleo f(x)™ conference as well as festivals such as Art Outside, Sonic Bloom, SolarPunk Summit and How Do You Health Fest. I currently teach weekly at Shuniya Yoga Collective in Austin, TX and offer occasional training programs and retreats as well.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
My main advice to begin your qi gong practice is first to just start. Even if it is only every so often “the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” The other piece of advice I would give is to find someone who is experienced to practice with preferably in person. If you are serious about deepening your practice it is necessary to have a mentor to teach you the fundamentals, in this day in age it could be accomplished through an interactive online forum like through Zoom but it is far better in my opinion to have someone in person to guide you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.goldenmonkeyqigong.co/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goldenmonkeyqigong/
