MILFORD – Qi gong involves slow, fluid motions, stretching and deep breathing, all of which leads to opening one’s energy channels and relaxing.

I’m not good at any of that.

Wendy Mace is. She is certified to teach qi gong (pronounced chi gong) and is presenting it as a fitness class suitable for all ages. There, at least, I fit: I am one of those people to whom “all ages” applies, so I didn’t feel totally out of place taking the class at Hampshire Hills Sports & Fitness Center, where it was possible that I wasn’t the oldest person. I certainly wasn’t among the youngest.

The class, Mace said, is tai chi-inspired, and it is somewhat like yoga in that “you focus on opening your energy channels, which is good for health.”

The primary focus, she said, is on the area just below the belly button and is related to core strength, but the movements in qi gong are also good for leg strength and can help to improve one’s balance. Indeed, in qi gong, everything is done in a standing position.

The positions involve stretches to the sides, reaching, as it were, as far as one can without losing balance or causing pain. There is bending and fluid movement across the body while bending at the waist.

The most difficult, for those of us rhythmically challenged, is any movement involving what in tai chi would be considered martial art blocks but in qi gong are the slow movements of the arms, wrists and hands from one side to the other across the body.

Generally, qi gong is described as a practice of aligning breath, movement and awareness for exercise, healing and meditation. Said to have roots in Chinese medicine, martial arts and philosophy, qi gong traditionally is viewed as a practice to balance qi (chi), or what has been translated as intrinsic life energy.

From a philosophical perspective, qi gong is believed to help develop human potential, allow access to higher realms of awareness and awaken one’s “true nature.”

To Mace, the health benefits are important, and they include improving strength and coordination, reducing joint stiffness and pain, improving balance, reducing stress, lowering blood pressure, and improving circulatory, digestive and lymphatic systems.

“I’ve been teaching group exercise for almost 25 years,” she wrote in an e-mail response to a question after the class. “Most of that time I taught kickboxing, and more recently, a class called BodyCOMBAT, which includes moves from many of the martial arts. This Eastern philosophy has always fascinated me. When I took over the Forever Fit programming here at Hampshire Hills, based on what I already knew, a tai chi-inspired class seemed the perfect fit. One weekend certification last summer, I was hooked. I continue to practice and learn at the Myofu An Dojo in Milford.”

At Hampshire Hills, the class is held at 10 a.m. Fridays.

For more information, call Mace at 673-7123.