Improve Your Health

In the Jade Dragon tradition we say that every person possesses 3 wild horses. These 3 horses are largely out of control and pull us this way and that. They drain us of energy with their wildness and age us prematurely. What are our 3 horses? As any horseman…

Virtually all negative emotions are based on fear. Fear is our most primal emotion and one that a great many people feel, to a greater or lesser extent, every single day. We have around 30 names for different types of fear, and many more slang words: anxiety, dread, panic…

When was the last time you ever truly savoured anything? Most of us are permanently in too much of a rush to ever really enjoy anything we do, see or eat. It makes us more productive but is that a always a good thing? There is more to life…

Why on earth is long lasting, genuine, deep relaxation so difficult to attain? The answer is the ‘tension paradox’ but before we look at what that is let’s take a quick look at your relaxation options. Here are some of the main things people do to relax and release…

The term tai chi (taiji) refers to the constant interplay between the forces of yin and yang. Tai Chi Chuan (taijiquan) is the martial art that uses those forces to develop extraordinary power. Very few tai chi schools now teach the development and use of these forces. This is…

There is a wonderfully powerful exercise that has been practiced in China for centuries. It’s based on your smile. Putting on a smile, even if you don’t feel like it, can make the whole world seem brighter. Smiling actually makes you look more attractive and is great for reducing…

The Chinese term qi (pronounced chee) refers to universal life energy. This energy has been investigated and written about by most cultures in the world. The Japanese call it ki, the Indians call it prana, the Greeks pneuma and so on. But what is it? Qi is an energy…

Your posture is all about the way you hold and move your body. A good posture makes you feel alive, nimble, full of energy and puts minimal strain on your body. A poor posture makes you feel sluggish, drained and puts excess stress on various key joints and other…

Would you like to be more focused in whatever you do? Have you tried meditating but couldn’t control your racing mind? Would you like to be calmer and feel in more control of your emotions? Then learn to control your errant monkey mind. Most people have a mind that…

One of my main goals in this blog is to help your release the tension that is imprisoning your body and poisoning your mind. There are several different ways of doing so. One of these is to shake out your tension. In these posts you will learn to change…

Are you tired during the day and wide awake at night? Use breathing for stress relief and sleeping. This is a very common experience and one I’m sure is familiar to you. As humans we have evolved, like most animals, to be awake during the day and to sleep…

Tai chi is a profound martial art and exercise system that has become universally popular because tai chi health benefits are so wide-ranging. What’s more ongoing research is constantly showing new areas where tai chi is beneficial. One year it is in the news for treating anxiety and the…

Chinese exercise is very different from Western exercise. Here in the West we don’t consider we’re doing exercise unless we’re struggling and straining, gasping and sweating. The aim is always harder, faster, more and more. We push our bodies to the maximum in the gym or pounding the streets…

Unclench Your Teeth One of the most common areas of tension and pain is in and around the jaw. Thousands of people, when under stress, clench their teeth together or grind their teeth. This often happens at night but also may occur regularly during the day when under pressure…

The single most important thing you do every second of every minute of every day is breathe. Your breath powers every cell in your body. It is intimately tied in to your emotional states and energy levels. The health of every single part of your body is utterly dependant…