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Free articles

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. The physical movement of each is almost identical. What changes is…

Side to Sides

This is a my favourite exercise for dropping tension out of your shoulders and neck. It’s simple to do. Just remember to do it slowly and smoothly and let gravity do the work. Side to Sides Find out more about traditional Chinese conditioning exercises through the tai chi and kung fu classes I run or sign up to our site…

Forwards Clock

This is another good exercise for restoring mobility. I often do this after doing the sideways clock. This exercise focuses on opening the front and back of the body. Here are the teaching points for this sideways clock exercise. Notes Find out more about traditional Chinese conditioning exercises through the tai chi and kung fu classes I run or sign up to our…

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 is that, unlike the tortoise, you rarely get a chance to…

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 lungs. When you breathe through your mouth the polluted air goes…

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 their full range of motion, lubricating every part until it was…

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 these exercises – which can be hard and fast – but…

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 and yang throughout human life and nature and they always strive…

The 2 types of fear and how to deal with them

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…