Ryan Powell

Ryan Powell teaches Daoist qigong and tai chi in Portland, Oregon. He began studying with Qigong Master Zhongxian Wu in 2002, has made trips to China to practise at the sources of that tradition, and is authorised by Master Wu to pass on the Hidden Immortal Lineage. Alongside qigong his training over more than twenty-five years takes in internal martial arts and the I Ching, and he teaches movement forms from the Emei Zhengong line together with the rarely seen Zhaobao He style of taijiquan.

His group classes in Portland are open to beginners and follow a steady pattern: each session opens with a loose shaking practice, moves through a set form and ends sitting quietly to gather the energy that has been raised. He also gives one-to-one lessons in person or over Zoom. Ryan is a working musician too, playing Celtic guitar, harp and whistle, and he blends the two strands in Xu, a podcast of short musical meditations on the Daoist idea of emptiness. His style is patient and unhurried, and he encourages students to let the forms settle in over time until the practice feels like their own.