Body Mind Breath & Senses – Movement & Stillness
I aim to make the teaching open, accessible, explorative and experiential – to empower students to discover & develop their own practice, – while cultivating & enjoying a sense of wellbeing in body and mind.
In addition learning movement forms and exercises, classes involve exploring &, developing essential qualities and deeper principles of the practices. The syllabus is a continuously evolving expression of my understanding from over two decades of practice and draws on an eclectic and holistic range of sources.
While I appreciate the importance of a lineage and learn from with the best teachers I can find – I value independent, free thinking and open exploration and seek to avoid dogmatic ideas around teaching and practice.
Practice Elements
Body Mind & Movement- A Holistic View & Eclectic Approach
Body Mind Breath Senses Movement & Stillness
Harmony In Structure & Movement, Cultivating Internal Strength
Form & Function – Application & Expression
Understanding & Refining Practice Though Interaction & Feedback
Asana & Pranayama From A Different Perspective
Cultivating Deeper Awareness, Inner Space & Stillness
Practice Qualities
Active Relaxation – actively and intentionally releasing holding patterns, letting go of tension, opening.
Feeling Deeply – somatic & sensory engagement, inner & outer senses.
Embodiment – body awareness, functional structure & movement, internal strength.
Connection – earth, space, centre, 3-dimensional, touch, support, containment.
Inner Space – feeling a sense of opening & inner space in body & mind.
Energy & Breath – cultivating energy, vitality, life-force, internal strength., connecting to breath.
Qi Flow – continuous internal flow of mind, breath, senses, relaxation, movement, qi.
Mind Intention (Yi) – body-mind connection, creation, cultivation, manifestation, mind moves energy.
Benefits – Why Practice?
Aliveness & Wholeness – feeling fully alive, aware & awake, open, embodied, strong, energetic, engaged – in your whole being, mind-body-spirit-heart-soul.
Health & Wellbeing – improving mental, emotional and physical health, reducing stress, improving mobility, flexibility, strength, stamina, energy, vitality.
Creativity – engaging imagination, exploring and creating possibilities & outcomes.
Liberation – finding freedom in body & mind, from patterns of stress and tension.
Connection – inner & outer connection, connection to inner-selves & outer-environment, social & community connection.
Positive Mind-Body Connection – learning to use the mind and imagination to positively change our embodied experience from within.
Sovereignty & Inner Strength – self-empowerment, self-direction & responsibility.
Instrinsic Enjoyment – enjoyment of the practice as an art-form, for no other reason than the practice itself.
Going Beyond Labels – Non-Duality – Wu Chi – Yoga
Yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of mind
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
While there are differences between Tai Chi, Internal Martial Arts, Qigong, Nei Gong, Yoga, Meditation – and the numerous variations within each approach – these are aspects and expressions of something which transcends labels.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name
Tao Te Ching
While theory and formal practice is an important part of learning – we can also go beyond labels, free ourselves from intellectual concepts, let go of attachment to ideas about practices – and explore our actual (nameless) experience deeply and directly.
T’ai Chi comes from Wu Chi
and is the mother of yin and yang
In motion T’ai Chi separates
In stillness yin and yang fuse and return to Wu Chi
The Treatise on Tai Chi Chuan by Wang Zongyue