What an expedition is actually like
There’s walking and some sweat, and you’ll sleep better than you have in ages. Here’s how it works, step by step, from the moment you decide to sign up until a few months after you get back.
Why we do it this way
“I’ve been teaching Qi Gong for many years, and I’ve learnt that body and mind change when we alternate effort and rest. A demanding day, then time to calm down and breathe. That’s how we’ve built the expeditions. You don’t need to be sporty or to have done any Qi Gong before. I only ask two things of you. Be willing to give it a go, and take the eight weeks of preparation seriously. When you get here, you’ll feel the difference.”
From the forest to the summit
The walk starts among the trees, where the summit is out of sight, and each step takes you higher until you come out into the sun at the top. Tap the steps, the numbers on the path or the arrows.
- 01 · Choose. You’re still in the forest, and from here there’s no sign of the summit. You’ve wanted to do something different for a while, but you’re not quite sure what. You answer a few questions, we chat on the phone for a bit and, when you hang up, you’ve got a date and a mountain.
- 02 · Get ready. You start walking through the trees without seeing where the path leads. The weeks before the trip change small things. You get off the bus a stop early, take the stairs and learn to breathe more slowly. One day you notice that a hill you used to avoid has become easy.
- 03 · Arrive. You come out of the forest and see the mountain for the first time. You arrive with your suitcase and a few nerves. Nobody’s in a hurry. In the morning, with the air still cold, you do your first Qi Gong practice with a group you don’t know yet.
- 04 · The challenge days. Each day you climb another stretch and the view gets wider. Every morning the path asks a little more. You feel it in your legs, but you still want to see what’s round the next bend. In the afternoon you rest, and catch yourself telling people you’d never met three days ago all about your day.
- 05 · The summit. You’re at the top, in the sunshine. The last stretch is slow and almost silent. When you get there you sit down, get your breath back and look down. The forest from the first day looks tiny.
- 06 · Closing. From up here you can see the whole path, including the forest where you started. On the last day we sit together and talk about the trip. You write yourself a letter, taking your time, and note down two or three things you don’t want to lose when you get home.
- 07 · Back home. You head home knowing the way up. You unpack and the routine comes back, but your body remembers. We get in touch to see how you’re getting on, and we meet up again in the months that follow.
You’ve wanted to do something different for a while, but you’re not quite sure what. You answer a few questions, we chat on the phone for a bit and, when you hang up, you’ve got a date and a mountain.
Tap any step and the path takes you there.
A short quiz on the website and, if you like, a twenty-minute call to choose your expedition and level.
An eight-week plan to walk, climb stairs and breathe better, with Qi Gong sessions. We’ll ask you to write down what you’d like to bring home from the trip.
An easy first day. We settle in, go for a short walk, do our first Qi Gong practice and talk about how we’ll work as a group.
One challenge a day, each a little harder than the last and with two levels. In between there’s practice, time with local people and free afternoons.
The toughest challenge of the trip, with an alternative for anyone who’d rather not go up.
We look back on the trip together. Everyone writes themselves a letter and leaves with two or three specific commitments.
We write to you a week later and meet up after a month and again after three months. You also take home a plan to keep practising on your own.
A little more each day
On the first day you just walk, to see what pace you go at. By the end of the trip you’re climbing a summit that looked miles away when you arrived. In between, each challenge asks more than the one before, and every morning you decide whether to do the A or the B version, depending on how you feel. Where the two would be very similar there’s a single level, and we tell you who it suits. Nobody’s competing with anyone here.
A walk on the first day to see what pace you go at.
Some time sitting still in silence, with the tree posture or meditating.
The first proper hill, everyone at their own pace.
A few hours alone in nature, with the group close by.
The longest day of walking, with a stop to eat and drink every half hour to an hour.
The last challenge of each trip, such as El Torcal, Mulhacén, M’Goun or Jebel Lakraa.
An ordinary day
You’re woken by the light, or by someone getting up before you. At a quarter to seven we’re outside doing Qi Gong for thirty or forty minutes, with cold air on your face and your body still half asleep. After breakfast, at half past eight, we set off walking. The first few minutes are in silence, and it’s surprising how much you can hear. We have lunch together and the afternoon is yours, for a siesta, the hot springs or a hammam, or just to do nothing. At seven we get together for twenty minutes to talk about the day. After dinner, from ten o’clock, it’s quiet time for anyone who wants it.
Qi Gong from scratch
Gentle movement and breathing that wake the body up before a walk and help it recover afterwards. You don’t need to have done it before.
With local people
Wherever we go, we spend time with the people who live there. In the Genal Valley that means the chestnut harvest with the villagers, in the Alpujarra a morning at a Buddhist monastery, and in Yunnan the Qi Gong masters.
We always tell you in advance about long walking days and summit days, and they never come two in a row.
When you get home
Before you set off, we ask you to note how well you sleep and how much energy you have. During the trip we keep track of both, along with your resting heart rate, and three months later we ask you again. That way you can see in numbers what you’re already feeling. Follow-up is part of every expedition, so you’re not left on your own once you’re home.
The expeditions are a way to look after your wellbeing, and they don’t replace any treatment. If you’re having medical or psychological treatment, talk to your doctor first.