The Art of Pacing What does pacing mean and how can it benefit you as a life philosophy? Pacing is generally the opposite of how we have been conditioned and brought up. We live in an ever increasing fast paced and demanding world. It’s no wonder stress is one of the most silent and untreated…
Slowing Down in a Fast World If you consider your daily routine, what tasks and activities do you do at speed? I don’t mean sports where you deliberately train fast for aerobic exercise and strength and conditioning training. I mean everything from chores to work, to speaking and movement. If you observe your pace, you…
Tai Chi for Spine Health An Unhealthy Spine The spine is key to health. One of my teachers once said that Tai Chi and Qigong all focus on spinal health. We use the phrase ‘structural integrity’ when talking about the Tai Chi and Qigong posture. This means the posture is aligned correctly, to hold your…
Ways to Relieve Stress I would go as far as saying that stress is one of the most silent health disorders of our modern times. Managing stress is often overlooked and seen as trivial. There is growing pressure on everyone, to go faster, be more productive, achieve more, do more and so on. Before we look…
Chronic Pain Qigong Livestream Come along to our online livestream for those living with chronic pain, who would like to explore gentle and powerful movements for both mind and body. Join instructor Nicola from the warmth and comfort of your own home for an hour of self discovery, discussion and practice in a private and…
How Do You Do What You Do? This questions was posed to me by one of my students who lives with chronic health. She was aware of my health baseline, and asked how I do what I do as a Tai Chi and Qigong instructor. This is a great question. Delving deeper into her question,…
Chronic Pain Course IOW ReMap Course Summary – March to June 2019 Wednesday 12 June 2019 saw the completion of the 12 week ReMap course in Newport on the Isle of Wight, a movement and stillness class for those living with chronic pain. Over the duration I introduced the students to ‘Hibernating Bear Tai Chi’, covering…
Health Baselines Learning to Take Care of Yourself In my classes I often talk about exercising and training gracefully to your own physical baseline. This phrase comes from my teacher Casey Kochmer, from Personal Tao. Read his article on baselines here. We all have a unique health baseline, that changes with the ebb and flow of…
Tai Chi Qigong for Ehlers Danlos Exploring the potential of Tai Chi and qigong exercises to aid the genetic connective tissue disorder called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS). Instructor Nicola lives with hypermobility EDS, you can read her journey in health here. Living with a different health base-line from the norm comes with plenty of challenges, from…
Hibernating Bear Tai Chi “Build a Strong Foundation for Mind and Body Health” The phrase “Hibernating Bear” comes from instructor Nicola’s ethos to make authentic Tai Chi and Qigong available to all abilities of students, no matter age, physical ability or location. The online hibernating bear lessons follow the Taoist principles of kindness, modesty and…
What does EDS pain feel like? Making the invisible visible I would like to describe my experience of living with pain to help educate and raise awareness for all living with chronic and acute pain health conditions. For those reading this that know someone who lives with chronic pain, the best thing you can do is…
Tai Chi Qigong for Injury Recovery In this article I would like to explore the benefits of using Tai Chi and Qigong as restorative exercises to help during injury recovery. Over the years I have worked with many students to aid physical rehabilitation after accidents and injury, from frozen shoulders, twisted knees and falls, to…
Prolonged Sitting is Killing You Tai Chi and Qigong to improve your posture in daily life If you have attended my Tai Chi and Qigong classes, you’ll know how emphatic I can be regarding frequent healthy movements and postural health in your daily life. By practicing the Classical Chinese arts regularly, the corrections to your…
Living with EDS “Ehlers Danlos Syndrome” My Story by Tai Chi Instructor Nicola During May 2014 it is Ehlers Danlos awareness month. I have written my account of living with EDS and wanted to share this with you all. Here is my story, it is a little raw and gives honest insight into what it…
Travel with Hope Tai Chi and Qigong for Parkinson’s Disease A Parkinsons Disease Interview Introduction This interview on April 11, 2014 is an update to a previous interview on March 15, 2013. Meet ‘John Doe’ and read his story of learning to live with Parkinsons Disease (PD). He studied Qigong with me, instructor Nicola for…
