Struggling to Meditate?
Part One. Meditation is great, we all know that now. Long since disregarded as merely an esoteric activity for hippies and followers of Eastern religions, there is now a plethora of supportive medical research, classes in almost every town and village, and more apps than you can fill your …
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The Important Hidden Benefit of Tai Chi
It’s great to see new members flooding in this week, January always sees many new people join and start their tai chi journey with us. Remember that you can subscribe with 25% off annual subscriptions all the way through January. Just use the coupon code newyear2022 to claim your discount. …
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Winter in Chinese Medicine
Winter is the most Yin time of year in Chinese medicine. The darker months are a time of looking inward, slowing down, resting, wrapping up, keeping warm, and eating nourishing foods. It is a time when looking after our kidneys is important. In Chinese medicine each season is associated …
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Everyone Should Practice Qigong
I believe that everyone should do qigong. Young, old, and everyone in between. It’s the perfect activity and here I offer three all encompassing reasons why: Mind “You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realise this and you will find strength” Marcus Aurelius, Meditations. Whilst social …
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Three Treasures
In my late teens I spent a few months working in a book warehouse, saving up to go away on another travelling adventure. I wasn’t interested in much else at that age, other than books, so compared to some other mind numbing temporary jobs I had grafted away at in …
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On Emptiness
Emptiness Emptiness is a core theme throughout the Tao Te Ching, it is the eternal and inexhaustible wellspring from which everything is derived. In Taoism, emptiness (Wuji) is represented by a circle. From Wuji the Taiji is derived and the polarities of Yin and Yang come into being. …
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Martial Arts for Stress, Balance, and Happiness
During the 15 years that I had a career in the corporate world, I was often asked how I was able to not display signs of stress when everything seemed to be going wrong – as it very often does when you work in IT! My standard answer was, …
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Change, Adapt, Grow
We get so used to doing things a certain way and caught up in our routines or comfort zones that testing times such as the one that we are experiencing can be harder to get through collectively than they need to be. Witness those who cannot cope without life’s so …
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Kung Fu Beats Coronavirus
As a martial artist we spend a great proportion of our lives putting our bodies as well as our minds into uncomfortable situations and positions. Take my favourite exercise for example, the low horse stance (those who know me will not be surprised!). It’s the perfect example of physical …
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Jack Kerouac, Toilet Paper, and Finding Your Purpose
I haven’t written a series of blog posts for a while, the last time was whilst I was in China last summer. I was expecting to do something a little similar this summer coming but you know what they say about the best laid plans. So here we are, …
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