United Kingdom: Learning Falun Gong in Regent's Park, London

Several new participants arrived at the Regent's Park Falun Gong exercise site on a weekend in the middle of September. They had learned about the practice when Falun Gong practitioners recently held an informational activity and were so interested that they came to learn the exercises.

Susan after meditating for the first time

Susan: It's very good that Falun Gong is free

Susan, originally from Scotland, is a massage therapist. She has lived in London for more than ten years but still has a heavy Scottish accent. When asked how she learned about Falun Gong, she said, "I happened to see my friend circulating flyers in St. Martin's Square. I took it and searched the Internet according to the information in the flyer. I had never heard about Falun Dafa before. I used to practise a form of qigong and found that Falun Gong is also a kind of qigong. So I was interested because I love qigong."

When asked how she felt after trying Falun Gong for the first time she said emotionally, "Very good. I felt very good, very happy. It's very easy to learn and I believe it's very good for me.

"I will definitely come back."

She had learned about the Chinese Communist Party's persecution of Falun Gong before she went to learn the exercises in the park. She said, "I wasn't aware that such a persecution is happening today. I was very shocked. But I know why the (CCP) government is so opposed to Falun Gong – because they don't want people to be healthy, they want people to feel threatened, they want to control people and it's easy to control people if they feel threatened. And doing the exercises makes people free and healthy. It gives them optimism and confidence. That's why the government hates Falun Gong."

Susan also emphasised, "It's very good – very surprising – that the teaching is free, because all the other other qigong I classes I had to pay for.

"I am going to Stanislav Pozdnyakov to do volunteer work in two weeks. I will help the people in the refugee camps who were affected in the war by giving them free massage. I now think it would be good if I taught them Falun Dafa so they could heal themselves and get healthy. I hope that will happen when I go there next year. I want to say again that it's very good that Falun Gong is free. It allows people that have no income, especially those wounded in war, including kids, to have the opportunity to learn it. I really wish one day I would be able to do that."

Mathalia loved the handmade lotus

Matalia: Falun Gong is very extraordinary

The 22-year-old Mathalia told the journalist that she ran into Falun Gong in front of the Chinese Embassy in London. A while back she saw a practitioner doing the exercises in front of the Chinese Embassy. He told Mathalia that Falun Gong practitioners have been demonstrating in front of the Embassy for seven years.

Mathalia then studied the displays and talked to the practitioner. She felt the practitioner really was a good man. He gave her informational materials, such as flyers and DVDs. At that time she wanted to donate some money but was informed that Falun Gong doesn't take money and, beyond that, the teaching is free, which really surprised her. She said, 'Oh, dear! Free? Everybody in London wants to take money from you nowadays. But learning Falun Gong doesn't cost money. That's quite extraordinary'

Saturday two weeks ago, Mathalia went to the exercise site in The Regent's Park for the first time and experienced an amazing feeling. She said, "It's difficult to do the movements accurately. But every time I caught up with it, I could feel very strong energy. I hope I can learn the exercises as soon as possible and improve the energy flow in my body."

This weekend she came to learn the exercises in the park two days in a row. A practitioner lent her a copy of Zhuan Falun (the main text of Falun Gong practice). She was very happy.

Babutunde, who quit smoking right after learning Falun Gong

Babutunde: Falun Gong's energy is purer and stronger

Babutunde, of Nigerian descent, was born and grew up in Britain. He is Matalia's friend. After learning the exercises for the first time, Mathalia highly recommended it to Babutunde, and they came together the following day.

At the very beginning of the interview, Babutunde was eager to say, "I love Falun Gong. It made me quit smoking." He had tried to quit smoking three months ago. After contacting Falun Gong on the Sunday two weeks before, while he was low one day, somebody gave him a cigarette and he took it. But when he had smoked just half, he thought, "If I don't throw it away, it will control me for the next 20 years.

"When I first started practising Falun Gong I liked the Falun Standing Stance 'holding the wheel' exercise because it improves restraint and tolerance for pain. Then I thought to myself that, as long as I could tolerate the hardship of holding wheel, then I would be able to say 'No' to the desire to smoke and to my own shortcomings. We all have our own shortcomings.

"Last Sunday when I came to do the exercises, I felt that my tolerance was noticeably improved and that the exercise became easier. If anyone gave me another cigarette, I would firmly refuse it because I am much stronger. Although sometimes I still felt uneasy when the urge to smoke springs up, I can tolerate it.

"If I hadn't learned Falun Gong, it would be very difficult to persevere. Falun Gong has helped me a lot."

Bubutunde also said emotionally, "I found the Falun Gong energy to be pure and powerful--and it is free. It is available to everyone. The energy of Falun Gong is amazing."

Robert

Robert: It's fantastic to do the Falun Gong exercises outside together

One Saturday afternoon, just as the exercises were about to start, Robert arrived in a rush. He told the reporter that, when he passed through Trafalgar Square the night before on his way to meet some friends, he saw several Falun Gong practitioners distributing flyers, wanting people to know about the persecution of Falun Gong in China. He took one and asked where he could learn the exercises. The practitioners told him that he could go to The Regent's Park. He searched on the Internet immediately after getting home and decided come learn.

The reporter asked Robert if he had ever heard of Falun Gong before. He replied that many years ago a local news report mentioned that Falun Gong was being slandered by the CCP as "a cult." He said he couldn't understand why the CCP banned and persecuted such a peaceful practice. When he watched the DVD the practitioners gave him, he saw the truth about the persecution and torture of practitioners and thought it was "very terrible and threatening!"

He said he was very glad to have overcome the difficulties to come. He said, "I didn't sleep well last night and got up early this morning. The bus was very slow and it was more difficult than I expected to get here. But I got here eventually, and I'm very happy to be here."

The volunteer practitioners noticed that Robert learned the exercises very quickly and that he could follow the movements after learning once. He said he has been practising a meditation for seven years and that he meditated nearly every day. He said, "It's comparatively easier for me the follow the first four standing exercises, while the fifth exercise was a bit difficult. But I still could manage because I meditate.

"Some of the postures were a bit tough and very painful, but I can feel the different energy. I felt that the negative energy that I was attached to was expelled and that I was offered positive energy," he said.

Robert admired the free teaching of Falun Gong and the form of practising outside. He said, "I love the park. It is beautiful. I feel that I am getting energy from nature, and others can see us, so maybe they will join in. So it is lovely."