Free Qigung and Tai Chi class launched in Sunset District

(SAN FRANCISCO) A free Qigung and Tai Chi class is launched in the Sunset District for the summer to fall semester in partnership between San Francisco City College and Self-Help for the Elderly.

The class is named Mind-Body Health which is taught by Judy Hubbell, a senior member of the City College faculty for Older Adults program and Music Department.

Mind-Body Health class is held from August 2 to December 31, from 1PM to 2:30PM, every Tuesday at the South Sunset Community Center on 40th Avenue in the Sunset District. This is one of the classes held in the Sunset District since the advocacy of Supervisor Gordon Mar bringing the City College's courses to the district in 2019.

Mar, who represents Sunset District, joined the newly-launched Mind-Body Health class on Tuesday, August 9, to encourage more residents to sign up for the class to improve physical and mental health.

Mar also announced the South Sunset Community Center renovation project that he and Assemblymember Phil Ting were able to secure a $5 million fund to rebuild the facility. "We are looking forward to more City College classes to be held here at the new South Sunset Community Center in the future," said Mar.

For decades, Self-Help for the Elderly has offered nutrition meals at the South Sunset Community Center for the seniors in the Sunset District. The Mind-Body Health class is a new partnership between City College and Self-Help for the Elderly to have the weekly class in the community center.

Hubbell, instructor of the Mind-Body Health class, earned a master of science degree in voice from the Juilliard School in New York and has been teaching at San Francisco City College since 1979. Hubbell is also a long-time yoga and Tai Chi practitioner since the 1980s and certified as a teacher of Tai Chi Chih, meditation and yoga.

"Movements in Tai Chi Chih are performed slowly, and for the practitioner, cultivate inner awareness and energy. We can learn to move in an effortless manner of ease over time," said Hubbell.

"Through the joy of practicing 19 movements and one pose, we can relieve the stressors of modern life, finding a clearer focus of the mind and body and more energy. What I love about Tai Chi Chih is the sheer joy we all feel after each practice, especially outside in beautiful areas of San Francisco!" Hubbell added.

Anyone who is interested in the Mind-Body Health class can contact Hubbell at jhubbell@ccsf.edu, or call the Self-Help for the Elderly at South Sunset Community Center, 2601 40th Avenue, at 415-566-2845.