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Il Convento – Taiji in the footsteps of St. Francis

Posted by on 19.10.2009

I believe it all started during spring. My teacher Pamela Hiley got an invitation to teach at a Qigong course at the Il Convento monastery in Italy in May. She and those of my friends at the Taiji center who went there immediately fell in love with the place. As a result Pamela almost instantly started planning a second trip in late September. We arrived in the afternoon Sunday 28th of September. This is some of my impressions from Il Convento, but I’ll publish at least one more post with more focus on the Taiji and Qigong practice later. I’ll also post some pics from our day trip to Assissi later. For more pictures from the trip to Italy, check out my Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tjensvoll .

Tea in the garden

Tea in the garden


We were welcomed by Live Mørstad the absolutely charming manager at Il Convento.
Live Mørstad talking about the history of Il Convento

Live Mørstad talking about the history of Il Convento


Here are a couple of my first impressions of the monastery shot the first day:
Il Convento - first impressions

Il Convento - first impressions


The clock tower. This tower would ring every 15 minutes from 07:00 to 22:00

The clock tower. This tower would ring every 15 minutes from 07:00 to 22:00


Every morning started in the inner garden at 7:30 with one hour of Qigong practice before breakfast. We practiced Taiji before lunch and Qigong between lunch and dinner (19:00). In other words; our days were filled …
Qigong in the garden

Qigong in the garden


Taiji pushing hands in the garden

Taiji pushing hands in the garden


Pamela instructing Andreas in pushing hands

Pamela instructing Andreas in pushing hands


We did not stay inside Il Convento the entire week though. On the fifth day we went to Assissi. I’ll post some pictures from that trip in my next post. We also went for walks in the area around the monastery. An old church is located all by itself in the hillside surrounded by olive trees. When we came up there we practiced Taiji ….
Taiji at the mountain church

Taiji at the mountain church


Local resident at the mountain church

Local resident at the mountain church


Here’s a shot showing Il Convento taken from the hillside church. Most of the village of Bovara is visible in front of the monastery.
Il Convento from above

Il Convento from above


When the week suddenly was over I was almost surprised. Even with the relatively slow living inside the monastery the time flew by very quickly. I’d gladly stay a week or two more …
The last supper at Il Convento

The last supper at Il Convento


For even more pictures from the trip to Italy, check out my Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tjensvoll

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