June 24 2002

SARATOGA SPRINGS - About 20 locals experienced a taste of an ancient Chinese art Sunday that made headlines in April when a U.S. citizen advocating the spiritual movement was arrested in Tiananmen Square.

Falun Gong [...] is a practice similar to yoga that involves low-impact exercise movements and meditation. Originally from Beijing, but now hailing from Richmond, Va., Leejun Ivie held what she believes to be the first Falun Gong session in Saratoga Springs on Sunday afternoon.

The free class was held at Saratoga Yoga on Phila Street and was attended mostly by residents who regularly attend yoga classes. However, many said that the experience of Falun Gong was more powerful. It was a first-time experience for every one of those in attendance Sunday. "This is probably a more direct route to feeling the energy," said Mark Kinder, a regular yoga student. Ivie, too, believes the Falun Gong experience can be far more meaningful than yoga. "It looks like yoga but the energy field is much stronger," she said after the session. "They say, 'I sense the energy surging through my body,' I say, that's very normal."

American University student Andrew Muir Ellsmore was arrested in Tiananmen Square recently when he unfurled a Falun Gong banner and shouted in Chinese "Falun Dafa is good!" The banner said the same thing. Falun Dafa is another name for the spiritual movement, which was outlawed in China in July 1999. Ivie, however, said the practice is not political or religious. "The Chinese central government is an atheist government and they don't like anybody to believe anything spiritual," she said. "There is no political agenda, there is no religious ritual built into it. "It's the spiritual part that the Chinese government can't take," Ivie said.

Falun Gong says 300 followers have died from torture and mistreatment in Chinese custody. Thousands have been imprisoned. In April 2000, Falun Gong practitioner Chen Zixiu was reportedly tortured and beaten to death in a detention center.

Ivie has been practicing the art for nearly five years and holds sessions in a public park everyday at 6 a.m. in her hometown of Richmond. "It's something I do to keep myself mentally and spiritually balanced," she said. "It's how I start my day." Ivie works for Taylor Made boating equipment and travels to Saratoga regularly on business trips. She said she had the idea to hold a Falun Gong session here when she realized there was no place for locals to practice the art.

The movement is based on the principles of "truthfulness, compassion and tolerance" and is centered on self-improvement, according to fliers that Ivie passed out at the session.