Next Friday 18 May we will be delighted to welcome Master Frank Allen and Tina Zhang to Brighton for their series of Bagua and Qi Gong workshops.  The classes are open to all levels of students, everyone is welcome to join us, beginners are especially encouraged to experience learning the internal arts with the finest Bagua and Qi Gong instructors. Spaces are still available for the classes, please use the form at the base of this page to make enquiries and book your place.  Follow the links below for more details on each of the classes being taught.

Master Frank Allen – Classical Cheng Style Bagua Zhang

18 / 19 / 20 May

This workshop will focus on the yin/yang foundations of the art of Ba Gua Zhang through the movements, energies, techniques and cultural correlations of the Single Palm Change & The Double Palm Change.

Tina Zhang – Earth Qi Gong for Women

18 / 19 May

Learn powerful gentle movements that focus on female health and wellbeing. Helping the female anatomy from menstruation, menopause, pelvic health, female spirit, Qi flow and emotions.

Tina Zhang – Three Treasures Qi Gong

20 May

This set of Medical Qi Gong break through with its special touches and emphasizes on these well established 14 meridian channels’ Qi flow, which nurturing the internal organ systems.

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Schedule of Tai Chi, Qi Gong & Meditation classes and workshops

Lots of classes and workshops to choose from this month. The highlight is 18-20 May with visiting Master Frank Allen and Tina Zhang for their series of Bagua and Qigong workshops in Brighton, all levels of students welcome to come along.  Full schedule of weekly classes and weekend workshops listed below:

Friday 4 May
12.30pm Open Practice Session – Horsham Park

Saturday 5 May
10.30am Qi Gong for Women – Brighton

Tuesday 8 May
6.30pm Chen Tai Chi – Worthing
7.30pm Health Qi Gong – Worthing
8.30pm Taoist Meditation – Worthing

Wednesday 9 May
7.30pm Chen Foundations – Horsham
8.30pm Chen 11 Form – Horsham

Thursday 10 May
6.30pm Chen 11 Form – Crawley

Monday 14 May
10.30am Tai Chi & Qi Gong for Health – Horsham
1.00pm Cancer Support Group Class – Horsham
6.30pm Health Qi Gong – Horsham

Wednesday 16 May
7.30pm Open Training Session for all levels – Horsham

Friday 18 May
6.30pm Master Frank Allen Bagua - Brighton
6.30pm Tina Zhang Qi Gong Women – Brighton

Saturday 19 May
10.30am Master Frank Allen Bagua – Brighton
10.30am Tina Zhang Qi Gong Women – Brighton

Sunday 20 May
10.30am Master Frank Allen Bagua – Brighton
10.30am Tina Zhang 3 Treasures Qi Gong – Brighton

Monday 21 May
6.30pm Health Qi Gong – Horsham

Tuesday 22 May
6.30pm Chen Tai Chi – Worthing
7.30pm Health Qi Gong – Worthing
8.30pm Taoist Meditation – Worthing

Wednesday 23 May
7.30pm Chen Foundations – Horsham
8.30pm Chen 11 Form – Horsham

Thursday 24 May
6.30pm Chen 11 Form – Crawley
7.30pm New Tai Chi for Beginners Class – Crawley

Monday 28 May
10.30am Tai Chi & Qi Gong for Health – Horsham
1.00pm Cancer Support Group Class – Horsham
6.30pm Health Qi Gong – Horsham

Tuesday 29 May
6.30pm Chen Tai Chi – Worthing
7.30pm Health Qi Gong – Worthing
8.30pm Taoist Meditation – Worthing

Wednesday 30 May
7.30pm Chen Foundations – Horsham
8.30pm Chen 11 Form – Horsham

Thursday 31 May
6.30pm Chen 11 Form – Crawley
7.30pm New Tai Chi for Beginners Class – Crawley

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What is SAD

• SAD stands for Seasonal Affective Disorder
• Commonly talked about as the winter blues, SAD is a serious condition that affects many people over the winter months.  Linked with the lack in our bodies of Vitamin D from natural sunlight, this condition can be hard to diagnose as the symptoms are similar to other depressive disorders.

Symptoms of SAD

• Depression
• Anxiety & stress difficult to overcome
• Lethargy/fatigue
• Insomnia
• Comfort eating leading to weight gain
• Lack of concentration/focus
• Memory difficulties
• Emotional, irritable, intolerable, easily agitated
• Isolation, no desire for social contact
• Lack of motivation
• Decrease in libido

Complementary/Natural Ways to Help

• Eat a nutritional diet, avoid mass produced/packaged/convenience foods
• Avoid stimulants like cigarettes, coffee and alcohol
• Take the appropriate dietary supplements (minerals, vitamins)
• Increase exposure to natural light
• Artificial light therapy e.g. full spectrum light boxes
• Keep moving, exercising & being active
• Learn to manage stress e.g. meditation
• Acupuncture / Traditional Chinese Medicine
• Homeopathy
• Ayurvedic medicine
• Keep up social contact
• Ensure you get a good night’s sleep

Tai Chi / Qi Gong / Meditation & SAD

Tai Chi and Qi Gong combine gentle powerful movements, deep breathing and the theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) as a system for physical, emotional and psychological health and wellbeing.  Known as meditation in motion, the internal arts can help with a myriad of symptoms and are accessible at any age or physical condition.  These practices can also help boost your immune system by as much as 50%, perfect for the winter season. Public classes also give the chance for social contact out of the house, even if for just one hour per week during the winter months.  Tai Chi, Qi Gong and meditation are great ways to help manage stress, reduce anxiety, level emotions and become more grounded, in touch with our bodies and at ease with ourselves.

- boost energy – nourish the joints – calm the mind – strengthen the muscles – reduce muscular contraction -

- improve circulation – aid organ health – take in more oxygen – help the lymph system function -

“Going for a daily walk or taking up yoga or Tai-Chi is a great way to not only improve your physical health but your mental health as well. I cannot emphasize the importance of exercise for those who suffer from anxiety or depression. Exercise can have the equivalent benefit as a prescribed anti-depressant.”  Excerpt from ‘How to Stop Winter Depression’ by  www.jasonhill.hubpages.com

Resources

Living with SAD

Got the Winter Blahs?

27 Home Remedies for Seasonal Affective Disorder

Natural Treatment for Depression and Seasonal Affective Disorder

Seasonal Affective Disorder from a TCM perspective

Personal Experience of Qi Gong used to aid SAD

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The first of our summer training excursions will take place in Horsham in natural woodland near Leechpool and Owlbeech Woods.  The location is just off the main walking path beneath the trees in a clearing. This is a great chance to experience Tai Chi and Qi Gong in a completely natural environment.  Open to existing students of Earth Balance Tai Chi at any level, everyone welcome.

My dog and I searching for the right spot for our forest trip

Time: Meet at 11am

Date: Sunday 17 June 2012

Meeting Point: Leechpool Wood Car Park, Harwood Road, Horsham

Training Location: About a 10 minute walk into Owlbeech Wood

Training Duration: 2.5 hours

Fee: £15 (if you have already attended 1 class in the week prior the cost is £10)

Bring with You: Packed lunch, water, something to sit on e.g. blanket

Caveat: *Please note the workshop is subject to weather, students will be contacted on the day should rain postpone the meeting off.

Map of Meeting Point:

View Larger Map

Make Enquiries:

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To celebrate World Tai Chi and Qi Gong day in West Sussex, join us in the sunshine for a Tai Chi and Qi Gong workshop.  On this special day in the Internal Arts calendar we will join people from all over the world, celebrating the importance of Tai Chi and Qi Gong in our lives.  Everyone is welcome, so please come along, new students and beginners welcome.

The official details: WTCQD 2012 – Saturday, April 28th, 2012, 10 am local time, worldwide.  www.worldtaichiday.org

FREE EVENT:

WTCQD: Open practice session Tai Chi & Qi Gong

Date: Saturday 28 April

Time: 10.30am – 11.30am

Duration: 1 hour

Cost:  Free

Location: Horsham Park

Bookings: Please register with Nicola using the form below

More details:

• Weekly outdoor practice sessions
• Monthly summer excursions

Please register your interest today:

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In association with the Horsham Heathers Cancer Support Group and the Crawley Chrysalis Breast Cancer Support Group, I am providing voluntary Tai Chi/Qi Gong classes in May and June 2012 to members of these groups.

Over the 6 week course we will cover an introduction to Chen Tai Chi and Health Qi Gong, looking at the movements, principles and alignment in detail regarding health and wellbeing.  Everyone is welcome whether a cancer sufferer, in remission, partners or caregivers. Join our oasis of calm and help learn to relax the mind and body.

Time: 1pm – 2pm

Dates: 14 May, 28 May, 11 June, 18 June, 25 June, 2 July

Held at the Unitarian Church Hall on Worthing Road in Horsham (opposite the library).

To enquire about joining the cancer support groups and coming along to these classes, please contact the relevant support group organisers, details can be found below:

Heathers Support Group Website

Chrysalis Breast Group Website

For resources on the benefits of Tai Chi and Qi Gong relating to cancer please follow this link

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Tai Chi Excursions
As we welcome the warmer weather, come along to our new outdoor training excursions for existing students of Earth Balance Tai Chi (Horsham, Crawley, Worthing, Henfield).  We will be meeting / car sharing to the countryside in the Horsham district for some practice in the sunshine where we can connect with nature.  The aim is to find a secluded spot either in the forest or out in the open countryside where we can enjoy the views, absorb sunshine and feel the breeze on our skin.

Dates/Times

• Sunday 17 June 2012 – Meet in Horsham at 11am
• Sunday 15 July 2012 – Leave meeting point in Horsham at 1pm
• Saturday 11 August 2012 – Leave meeting point in Horsham at 10.30am

Duration: 2.5 hours with a break for lunch

Fee: £15 each session (if you have already attended 1 class in the week prior the cost is £10)

Bring: Water, something to sit on & packed lunch

Meeting Point: In Horsham, check the individual page of each workshop (links above)

Location: We will aim to find a spot that has free parking, public transport, an area that is secluded enough to train without being disturbed and is not too far to get to

Content: We will be covering what we have learned in our weekly classes; Chen foundation movements, Chen 11 Form, 8 Pieces Brocade Qi Gong, 5 Animal Frolics Qi Gong and Qi Gong for Women.

Caveat: Please note these sessions are subject to weather, and may be cancelled at short notice.

Our weekly practice in the park sessions will continue in Horsham throughout the milder months alongside our monthly excursions.

Please contact Nicola using the form below, stating which date you are interested in and if you are able to car share or need a space in a car for the excursion:

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“But you don’t look sick”

“You look fit and healthy to me”

“You don’t act like you’re sick”

When you look at someone in the street, at work, chat to a friend, or spend time with a loved, do you really know them?  Do you know everything about them, how they’re feeling and what their lives entail?  The term invisible illness means that a person may look fine on the outside in their physical health, appearance, personality, mobility and ability. As we know looks aren’t everything.

As someone who suffers with psoariatic arthritis and hypermobility joint syndrome, often the most people would notice are the skin problems on my wrists.  This is usually my Tai Chi or Qi Gong students who are watching my arms and hands like a hawk during our classes.  Even friends and loved ones who know about my conditions, never truly know what I am feeling, what is happening inside my body and how this affects my daily life.  The only person who truly knows and understands my limitations and struggles with invisible illnesses is one of my close friends, who suffers with Lupus / SLE.  “Takes one to know one”.

A degenerative auto-immune condition and a connective-tissue disorder (in my case alone) are hard work, there is no holiday, break or time off. Every day and night is an effort to carefully manage and not aggravate the symptoms.  Doing too much causes knock on effects that can last for days, yet there aren’t any instructions or gauge as what too much can be at any given time.

Most people suffering with a chronic illness will find their sleep is disturbed, usually by chronic pain. In my case sleeping is my nemesis, it’s what I need more than anything to recover, relax, restore and rejuvenate and yet with my conditions, laying in one position for a long time leads to frozen joints, inflammation, chronic and acute pain both muscular and skeletal. This leads to restless sleep, chronic fatigue, more pain, frustration and exhaustion. Mornings are like ground-hog day, no matter how much nourishment of mind and body I have done the day before….. the next day is all reset back to being like the Tin Man without any oil.

It takes time, patience and effort to get over a ‘night’s sleep’, and some days no recovery is possible from the night or days before.  Often waking up with an increase in inflammation, swollen joints, unexplained torn muscles, injury, sprains and bruising.  Being careful during the day not stay in one position for too long e.g. sitting at a desk, sitting in a car, standing, walking etc. Otherwise leading to further pain, inflammation, injury and fatigue. You get the idea!

Invisible illnesses give people finite resources, and by that I mean that each day you have to judge how you are feeling, what you have to do and what you are realistically capable of doing in your waking hours.  Healthy people start the day with a different outlook.  We are left to work out whether it will cause us further injury, pain, fatigue or a myriad of other physical symptoms to do; cleaning, work, driving, writing letters, emails, phone calls, shopping, cooking, dog walks, hobbies, ironing, travel, socialising etc. We only can do let’s say 5 things without the body shouting at us and forcing us to stop, so that means things get left out.

Our bodies are attacking us from the inside. We may have mild exterior physical symptoms from skin conditions to swollen joints or stiffness. Our internal body is constantly fighting against itself and we are the battle ground. We get caught in the middle without choice.  This takes a lot of mental and physical struggle.

When someone you know who has a chronic condition is out in public, spends time at a family event, helps you with a favour or works late, just bear in mind that they are probably using over their limit of resources for the day. When they go home they are more than likely to be suffering from having done too much, and could spend the next few hours or days recovering, even if they don’t say anything to you at the time. Even simple things like a trip to the cinema or a long walk on a summer’s day can be too much for the body to deal with, and though we do these things out of desire to have a normal life, we really are choosing to suffer from that desire to do things we love.

Invisible illness sufferers all want to help others, to be able to work, to spend time with loved ones, to do hobbies and so on. It just costs us a lot more physically and mentally to do so.  There is a very good article on the ‘spoon theory’ at the bottom of the page which nicely describes this.

The reason for my blog post today, is to try to raise awareness about invisible illnesses. I have encountered a lot of prejudice and discrimination within my own life, along with friends who suffer and from hearing experiences of my students in their daily lives. In general people are quick to judge on appearance, quick to speak, quick to label, quick to act and quick to disrespect people suffering with invisible illnesses. We may look healthy on the outside and yet are a battle ground on the inside.  Take time to consider those suffering under the radar of stereotypical ill-health.

Some conditions that are invisible to others, not all are listed

• Neuro-immune Diseases
• Auto-immune Diseases (80 types alone)
• Arthritis
• Anklosing Spondylitis
• Hypermobility Joint Syndrome
• Fibromyalgia
• Lupus / SLE
• Diabetes
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Lyme Disease
• Depression
• Heart Disease
• Thyroid Disorders

Symptoms, not all are listed

• Chronic fatigue
• Chronic pain
• Muscle, soft tissue and joint pain
• Chronic muscle contraction
• Stiff, immobile joints
• Inflammation, swollen joints/skin
• Sprains, tears and frequent injury
• Headaches, migraines
• Eczema, psoriasis, skin conditions
• Weight gain, weight loss
• Swollen glands
• Brain fog, poor concentration
• Shakes, tremors
• Depression, anxiety, stress, isolation, loneliness

Invisible Illness Resources

www.invisibleillnessweek.com

5 Ways to Cope in A Crisis when Living with a Chronic Illness

Looking Good, Feeling Rotten

Invisible Illness — What You Can’t See Does Hurt Her

www.invisibledisabilities.org

www.butyoudontlooksick.com

The Spoon Theory written by Christine Miserandino

www.chronicbabe.com

Invisible Illnesses, Visible Stereotypes

www.invisiblediseases.com

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Sharing with you upcoming Tai Chi and Qi Gong classes and workshops in the West and East Sussex regions.  Bookings are open, please contact instructor Nicola to reserve your place.

Worthing

Chen 11 Form Tai Chi for Beginners – Tuesdays at 6.30pm

Health Qi Gong – 5 Animals Frolics – Tuesdays at 7.30pm

Taoist Meditation – Microcosmic Orbit – Tuesdays at 8.30pm

Horsham

Chen 11 Form Tai Chi for Beginners - Wednesdays at 7.30pm

Health Qi Gong – 5 Animals Frolics – Mondays at 6.30pm

Open Park Sessions – Weekly 1 Hour Classes

Outdoor Excursions – Monthly Workshops

FREE EVENT – World Tai Chi Day – Saturday 28 April at 10.30am

Brighton

Qi Gong for Women I – Saturday 14 April from 10.30am – 1.00pm

Qi Gong for Women II – Saturday  5 May from 10.30am – 1.00pm

Crawley

Tai Chi / Qi Gong for Health – Register your interest for Tuesday mornings at 10.30am – 11.30am

Tai Chi Foundation Course – Register your interest for Thursday evenings at 7.30pm – 8.30pm

Meditation

New ways to learn meditation:

Download mp3 of the meditation of the ‘Inner Smile’

Distance / remote guided mediation class in your home

Feel free to contact Nicola with any queries you may have

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For Tai Chi and Qi Gong enthusiasts in Horsham, join our regular meet ups in Horsham Park.  These practice sessions are open to everyone, existing students and those new to Tai Chi.  These classes are a chance to practice Tai Chi and Qi Gong in a group out in the fresh air.

Latest Classes:

• Friday 4 May at 12.30pm lunch time session
• Sunday 27 May at 4.00pm
• Friday 1 June at 12.30pm lunch time session
• Bank Holiday Tuesday 5  June at 10.30am

• Click here for details of outdoor Tai Chi excursions on 17 June, 15 July, 11 August

If you would like to receive alerts by text of forthcoming park classes & location, please complete the form below.  We will either train in the Sensory Garden near the cafe, or in the Human Nature Garden near the bowling centre.

If the weather is poor on the day training will be postponed / or we may use the bandstand to shelter

Please check the class will run by contacting Nicola by text before setting off

Everyone is welcome to join in, from ages 18+.  These classes are free of charge, however donations are accepted.

Photo of Entrance to Human Nature Garden

Photo of Sensory Garden in Horsham Park

Map of Horsham Park

View Larger Map

Add your Name to the Contact List

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