Six days of Qi Gong with Lee Holden. October 4 to 9. Free to join. Registration opens September 21st.
It’s been almost two years since we had a Qi Challenge, and in that time the question we’ve been asked most often is, “when is the next one coming?”
What people love about a Qi Challenge isn’t only the practices. It’s the week itself, with thousands of people moving at the same time, sharing experiences and showing up for something together. So we’re bringing it back, and we’ve used the time away to rebuild it.
This time, we wanted to give the challenge an intention. So, as we usually do, we looked at those trusty Five Elements for inspiration. Over here in Santa Cruz, California, we’re just starting to transition into Autumn - the season of release. And in Five Element theory, Autumn belongs to the Metal element, the element of letting go.
In today’s world, it’s easy to feel like the answer is to always try harder, or that there’s one more thing out there that will solve everything. And while growth is necessary, some times more in not always the answer.
If your cup is full of muddy water, pouring in clean water doesn’t help much. You just get more water, still muddy. That’s what most of us do with our health: we add one more good thing on top of a life that’s already full, and then wonder why nothing feels any different.
So this year we’re not adding anything. We’re spending six days putting things down, whether that’s tension you’ve held so long it feels normal, a worry you’ve carried well past its usefulness, or a habit of staying busy so you don’t have to look at what’s underneath it. Qi Gong is unusually good at this kind of work because it moves through the body rather than asking you to think your way out. You move, and the holding pattern starts to loosen on its own.
It’s a journey, not a playlist. Past challenges pulled together favorite classes from the year, while this one was built from scratch as a single six day arc that follows the theme the whole way through. Each day’s routine is built on the one before it.
It looks as good as it feels. Every practice was shot in the forests and streams around Santa Cruz, where Lee lives and teaches, so you’ll be moving among redwoods and running water rather than watching Lee in the studio.
We’re practicing together, live. Qi Gong changes when you’re not doing it alone, so each day we’re hosting a practice party on Zoom at 10am Pacific Time where you can press play on the day’s routine at the same time as everyone else and flow through it as a group. It’s entirely optional, though most people who try one end up coming back for more.
Easier than ever to access. The challenge is hosted in the new Holden QiGong Learning Platform and app, which puts everything in one place: the daily practice, your reflections, the conversation, and thousands of other people moving through the same week.
Metal governs the Lungs and the Large Intestine, and the season moves through a cycle that’s easy to watch happening outside your window. Trees let go of their leaves, the light gets shorter, and nature stops producing in order to clear space for what comes next.
Metal is also the element of grief and of discernment, of knowing what’s worth keeping and letting the rest move on. Over five days, we move through that same cycle in the body: receive, refine, release.
For any of our friends who are not in the Northern Hemisphere, you can still practice this at any time of year. Pruning what no longer serves us is needed in any season.
Day 1 | October 4
Connecting to Breath. We Are One with Nature.
We open the week with flowing movement through the chest, shoulders, and upper back, which is where most of us hold tension without realizing it. As the body opens, the breath deepens on its own without any effort from you. The Lungs are our closest link to the outside world, in constant exchange with it, and nothing about today is about fixing anything. The closing reflection: you are not separate from the air you just breathed.
Day 2 | October 5
The Exhale. Letting Go Through Breath.
Today’s routine is built around release, with movement that lengthens the exhale, sometimes with a sigh or a sound. Whatever is ready to go, whether that’s tension, grief, or a stray thought, gets to leave along with it. In Metal theory grief belongs to the Lungs, and release here is an invitation rather than something forced.
Day 3 | October 6
Refining What Stays.
Letting go is only half of it, and the other half is discernment, which belongs to the Large Intestine. We work with movements that have a clear direction, pushing away what doesn’t serve and gathering in what does. These gestures train the body to feel the difference between holding on and releasing, so that boundaries become something you can feel rather than only think about.
Day 4 | October 7
Building and Integration.
The week comes together into one continuous flow, where the opening and breathing movements from Days 1 and 2 move together with the directional work from Day 3. In Chinese medicine the Lungs and Large Intestine are paired organs, one drawing in and expressing, the other sorting and clearing. Practiced as a single sequence, they form the complete cycle of receive, refine, release.
Day 5 | October 8
Seed. Carrying Forward into Water.
We shift from Metal into Water, from autumn into winter. The movements get smaller and the breath gets quieter until the practice settles into stillness and stays there, because rest is doing real work even when it looks like nothing is happening. Rather than rushing to fill the space the week has made, we plant a seed in it and let it rest.
Day 6 | October 9
Celebration. Sharing Our Harvest.
This is a live class with Lee rather than a sixth lesson, a chance to celebrate the week together and to reveal our grand prize winner.
The workbook, free to every registrant and delivered the moment you sign up, so you have somewhere to put what comes up during the week.
Bonus classes, opened alongside the challenge: Better Breathing, Upper Back and Neck, Introduction to Qi Gong, and Mindfulness in Motion.
Prizes, including a grand prize of a lifetime subscription plus a private session with Lee, and a year of free membership for other winners. There are also awards for the most supportive member of the community and for the boldest, most creative response to the week, along with surprise prizes throughout. Entries come from posting a reflection under each day’s lesson, which is also the part of the week most people say they’re glad they didn’t skip.
Every practice is beginner friendly and can be followed standing or seated. No experience needed, no equipment, and nothing to buy.
Online
Online
