Although it is possible to use either your nose or your mouth for breathing the nose should always be your first choice. The air that we breathe is full of pollutants which can be very damaging. Your nose has small hairs which filter the air before it reaches your lungs. When you breathe through your mouth the polluted air goes directly into your soft and vulnerable lungs and the pollutants […]
This is a classic and popular qigong exercise to loosen the shoulders, realign the spine and teach you to twist upwards through the whole body. It connects every part of you to the centre of your body and teaches you to direct power from there. This exercise is the most common first exercise I do in class to begin loosening and warming students up. Quickly release tension throughout your body […]
Stretching is an important part of conditioning to be fitter and healthier. Do you really need more reasons than that to stretch regularly? If the answer is yes, consider this. Imagine if you could have a bath in WD40. It would seep into all your joints, restoring them to their full range of motion, lubricating every part until it was as new and dissolving away all your tension. What would […]
In kung fu and tai chi there are only two movements we can do that have any real power. One is transferring your weight from one leg to the other. The other one is twisting your body at the waist and hips. Transferring weight simply involves moving your weight from one leg to the other. But as with everything we teach how you do it can make a massive difference […]
The basic stance is a way of standing that keeps your body aligned with gravity, improves your posture and promotes relaxation. For most people, the way they stand is unbalanced. Tension in the muscles pulls their body in different directions 24 hours a day. Relearning how to stand has so many benefits considering what a simple change it can be. Stand more securely on stronger legs Take the stress off […]
Release tension in your shoulders Learn to carry them so that tension doesn’t build up Connect your arms to your structure for maximum power One of the most common and debilitating places to hold onto pain and tension is in the neck and shoulders. Shoulder pain and tension is often associated with responsibility – literally carrying the world on your shoulders. It is so common that I can state with […]
The world is full of competing forces – work pressures, family life, desires to conform yet stand out – yins and yangs that pull us this way and that. These create energy, and often turmoil in our lives. Taoists have spent many centuries exploring the interplay of forces, the yin and yang throughout human life and nature and they always strive to find the middle path. Only through finding equilibrium can […]
Drain the tension out of your posture Stay relaxed even under stressful conditions Gain a stable root to protect you from physical or emotional pressure Everybody carries far too much tension around with them. This tension drains them ofenergy, pulls their body apart and resists every move they make. We are so often told to relax but not many people realise that relaxation is a skill that needs to be […]
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, alarm, terror, dismay and so on. Two types of fear However, there really are only two types of fear you need […]
Learn to relax every part of your body more and more deeply Discover a faster version you can do anytime to keep tensions at bay As mentioned in my book ‘Stress Proof Your Body’, one of the most popular relaxation exercises is called progressive muscle relaxation. A more efficient and powerful way to achieve the same level of relaxation, is not to tense then relax the muscles but to send a […]
Discover why most movements we make are inherently weak and unbalanced Understand how to move your body with power and purpose Generate real power from the inside out In kung fu and tai chi, we always aim to make our movements balanced, efficient and powerful. A balanced movement is one where the forces involved are balanced throughout the body. At no point is the individual out of balance and vulnerable […]
Raising and lowering your arms Find out how to keep the tension our of your shoulders Discover the true opening of the tai chi form Create effortlessly powerful arm movements Every day we raise and lower our arms hundreds of times. Whether we’re picking thingsup, drinking a cup of tea, using a computer or driving a lot of our activities involve ourarms. Changing the way we raise and lower our […]