Awareness
Before we can engage with the world around us, we first need to know that it is there. Most of us are aware that our senses filter, interpret and censor our experience, boiling it down to something limited and familiar enough for us to deal with but we do not fully realise how little of reality we actually perceive. Awareness [...]
Yin & Yang
T’ai chi is represented by the ubiquitous symbol, a circle divided into two curved shapes of equal size, one being yin, the shadowed dark part (Earth), the other yang, the light part (Heaven), and together they form the Whole, outside of which nothing exists. The fall and rise of the graceful wave-line is also yin and yang, [...]
Taoism
The internal inspiration and insight of t’ai chi are found in the spiritual practices of Taoism that has been integral to the philosophy and culture of China for thousands of years. According to this perspective, living simply, being quiet and observant and willing to move with the flow of things promotes harmonious life, living the Tao or “the Way” which [...]
I Ching
The I Ching (‘I’ signifying change or clarity, and ‘Ching’ a book written by a sage) or The Book of Change, the principle text of Taoism,[1] may be the oldest book on earth which “holds the time-tested value of responding to the needs of mankind”.[2] Through a collection of commentaries on 64 hexagrams that interprets the laws [...]
The history of t’ai chi
Like Traditional Chinese Medicine and acupuncture, the true origins of T’ai Chi Chuan dates back to a time before written history. Cave paintings in China show exercises similar to t’ai chi known as ‘Tao Yin’ appearing as early as 3000 BC during the reign of China’s mythical first emperor, Fu Hsi. If the origins of t’ai chi are steeped in [...]
What is Qigong or Chi Kung
Qi = life force, vitality gong= practise, cultivate, refine Qigong = internal energy work Qigong (also known as Chi Kung or Chi Gong) is one of the oldest exercises in Chinese history. It is a mind and body workout that seeks to stimulate the flow of qi, the elemental life force, along the energy channels and meridians [...]