Why Chi Kung?
Chi Kung found me when I needed it most. I can’t remember how or why, but I drifted into a class in 2018 and experienced such vivid images and sensations - red sun sinking into cold dark sea, warm heart like I’d been for a walk in the woods - it was friendship from the get go. Six months later, my husband discovered he had cancer (we were just 36) and our world contracted into the narrow lane of serious illness, and from appointment to appointment, into the omnipresence of mortality. In those early days time did strange things, slowing right down, weaving an odd and unfamiliar dance. One morning after doing some basic Chi Kung I sat down on the floor and found myself once again unable to cry but shocked and furious and telling the universe to go f*ck itself. And it bounced right back. Into tiny points of light all around me. I saw the invisible Chi, sentient, like a thousand souls suspended, communicating presence and availability. In that moment I understood that the Chi in Chi Kung was the connecting force of the universe, and we were bonded for life.
So I practiced and studied my new Chi Kung buddy, weirdly still amidst the chemotherapy, the surgeries, the completion of my decade of psychotherapy training, and multiple unknowns. A few years later, after my husband’s recovery and return to work (he’s a brilliant paediatric anaesthetist), and the lucky birth of our daughter, I stepped into my teacher training, specifically as an Elemental Chi Kung Teacher with my Shifu Thalbert Allen, and now I’m a space where the Chi is welcome to play and everyone is invited.
Class is online and 1 hour long. We explore the elemental landscape (Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, Wood) through subtle forms, standing postures and visualisations. You just need a small space at home to practice and comfy clothes. Every class is a story and a journey back home. In the words of Rick Rubin:
“When we take notice of the cycles of the planet, and choose to live in accordance with its seasons, something remarkable happens. We become connected. We begin to see ourselves as part of a greater whole that is constantly regenerating itself. And we may then tap into this all-powerful propagating force and ride its creative wave”
We move for about 45 minutes and then sit together to reflect and put into words what we’ve discovered. I hold space for my students to notice what they’re noticing, which is the beating heart of this work - being present to what is.
Classes for the rest of the year are on Saturday mornings 9am UK Time:
Saturday 26th October
Saturday 9th November
Saturday 30th November
Saturday 14th December
It’s £15 to join and you can reserve your space here:
Where the mind goes, the chi flows.