Below are our posts on how to improve your physical and mental health. Some of these come from the sister arts of tai chi and bagua. Others are related to breathing or meditation or general stress relief.
More are being added all the time. Keep checking back.
Tai Chi Health Benefits
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…
Fitter at Eighty Than You Are Today
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…
4 steps to release jaw pain
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…
Finding your diaphragm
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…
Heal your body and mind through fasting
Why you should stop eating As I write this I am four days into a fast. The first two days were water only and then I started eating some red grapes for the last two days. I intend to fast for 7 days eating only red grapes and drinking only…
Find balance and be yourself
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…
Increase your stamina quickly and naturally
Train hard, breathe easy I teach several kung fu classes per week. At the beginning of each is a warm-up and series of conditioning exercises which I lead. The students then follow me and listen to my instructions. Therefore it’s essential that I am not only able to perform…
Stretch Daily
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…
Expand Outwards
Whenever you feel any kind of fear, stress, anxiety or anything of the kind your body instinctively contracts inwards. This is a natural reaction that tenses your muscles ready for fight or flight. It’s like a tortoise withdrawing into its shell at the first hint of danger. The trouble…
Nose Breathing
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…
The key to vibrant health – The Rising Sun
The Rising Sun is the first of the true breathing exercises I teach to students. It is the first and most important of the ancient ‘5 Breaths of Tao’ Qigong set. The Rising Sun exercise can be done in many different ways. Each method trains something different inside you…
Empty Your Mind The Easy Way – Guided Meditation
I think pretty much everybody is aware of the huge benefits of meditation. It can leave you feeling so calm, relaxed and focused and has been shown to be as effective as taking a nap but takes just a fraction of the time. However, it’s also something that although…
Qigong – How to boost your health and longevity the Chinese way
Qigong (pronounced chee-gong) is a key element of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It has been practiced for thousands of years albeit under different names. The word literally means exercises that boost your natural energy. Qi – life giving energy and gong literally mean work or exercise. Qigong consists of…
Bagua 5 – Single Palm Change
The single palm change is the most famous movement in baguazhang. It is the signature move of the system. The way you do the single palm change defines you as a bagua stylist. Over time the way you do it will change as your understanding of it deepens. This…
Bagua 4 – Gaining Power
Bagua is an internal martial art and a form of moving meditation. It teaches you how to generate and store power in your body and how to express it in different ways. This post and video teach you four new ways of developing power through the bagua circle walking…