It was a breezy afternoon when I stepped out of my villa at wellness resort COMO Shambhala Estate in Ubud, Bali, and walked past the lush green amphitheater to the top of the hill where Ojas, a spa center, is located.

As I went upstairs, several people had already gathered at Ojas' yoga pavilion, all ready to participate in the afternoon session of Qi Gong (chee-gong), a traditional breathing practice.

Situated on the second story of the spa center, the yoga pavilion's deck perched at the height of a well-manicured hill overlooking a green valley, serving as a memorable landmark among other buildings on the property.

Our Qi Gong teacher that day, David Melladew, is a resident expert at the resort with extensive experience in the oriental sciences. In addition to earning a Master's degree from the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in California, he is said to also have formally trained in Qi Gong with more than 15 years spent studying martial arts such as Tai Chi Chuan, Tae Kwon Do and Hung Gar kung fu.

Melladew was in the middle of explaining the basic concept of Qi Gong to the participants when I entered the pavilion. Basically, he said, Qi Gong is about simple breathing, slow movements, postures and meditation exercises to effectively boost the Qi (the life force energy) to flow in your body.

The session started with Melladew instructing us to take a long and slow deep breaths, which aims to help oxygenate cells as well as to calm the mind and connect it with the body.

After the breathing practice, we moved on to learning poses. The first and an essential one is to figure out your own Qi Gong standing position.

'€œMove your feet shoulder-width apart in parallel; put your arms in a relax position by your sides and your head upright. Imagine that a string connected to your crown point is supporting you from above,'€ said Melladew.

'€œKeep breathing and slightly move back and forward to get a sense of the different feelings and then find your center where your weight should be neither too far forward or too far back. This is going to be your Qi Gong standing position,'€ he added.

Throughout the rest of the class, we learned several simple poses and movements that combined breathing techniques and slow mindful movements. Although they looked easy, I found myself sweating slightly just from my effort to mimic Melladew's movements.

Qi Gong, if practiced daily, is a powerful tool to help balance the Qi and allow it to flow freely throughout the body, hence keeping the mind and body in a balanced and healthy condition, said Melladew.

A Belgian ex-model, cookbook author and ceramic artist, Pascale Naessens was among the participants that day. Along with her TV producer husband, she took a 10-day wellness program at the COMO Shambhala Estate after discovering information about it in a magazine.

"The Qi Gong exercise is both energizing and relaxing at the same time," she said.

Having learned about pranic healing (claimed to be a no-touch healing technique that uses prana or energy) methods myself, I found the deep breathing methods to be quite similar. The activation of connecting two meridians known as Ren Mai (conception vessel) and Du Mai (governing vessel), which emerge and travel up the spine by placing my tongue onto the roof of my mouth, is one of the similar practices I found with both methods.

The Qi Gong class is one of the complimentary classes that guests can attend if they stay at the resort. Other interesting wellness classes available at COMO Shambhala Estate, which I also attended, include the aqua therapy class at the vitality pool and the restorative yoga class. (kes)(+)

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