About Tai Chi, Mindfulness & Meditation
THANK YOU for visiting me at embodyharmony.com!
The combined mindful arts of Tai Chi, Chi Kung and Meditation can help you live your life with the body and mind in alignment, harmony and balance, help you to tune in to your own needs and enjoy “less thinking, more living”!
EXCITING HOLISTIC HOLIDAYS for 2024!! – I simply can’t WAIT to share these life-changing and FUN retreats with you – all that’s needed is a deposit to book your place! See all the delicious details and book your place online HERE !!
- IRELAND – all-inclusive , luxury weekend in wonderful Wexford – 9-11th Feb – places booking fast.
- MAGICAL MARRAKECH, Morocco 12th April 2024 – an exciting week in this fascinating city plus a Moroccan cookery experience and trips to the coast and the desert!
As a practitioner of Tai Chi, Chi Kung and Meditation for more than 15 years I can say without doubt that these techniques have changed my life for the better – they have enabled me look after my own mind and body as well as nurturing resilience and self-empowerment in my daily life. I believe in the benefits so wholeheartedly that I have been an instructor since 2011 offering classes, workshops and retreats involving these Mindful Movements and Meditation and have also trained in the Therapeutic Use of Mindfulness (Irish Mindfulness Institute). I am here to help you start taking steps towards a more peaceful, present and purposeful life. You can develop a “tool-kit” with techniques to focus and stabilize your mind as well as to gain more awareness of your true Self. At my classes, workshops and retreats you can relax, balance and align the busy body and manic mind – bringing about a sense of wellbeing and an ability to integrate “less thinking and more living” into your daily life and some much needed breathing space in a hectic, modern world.
You’ll get to learn and experience all of the powerful, peaceful (and FUN!) practices shown below in one of my classes and workshops and retreats. Everybody’s welcome, suitable for all ages and levels of fitness, no experience necessary. Come along, give it a try, learn something new and enjoy “Chi & Tea”with me!
I also offer Personalized Mindfulness Sessions at The Natural Clinic. Click on the link or go to the Therapies drop-down menu. You can also sign-up now for a FREE 15 minute Mini-Mindfulness Session with me – visit the Freebies page!
What is the Chi – also written “Qi”?
The essence of life….a Chinese word, Chi, literally translated means energy, life force or essence and is known as Prana in Yogic practice and Ki in Japan (as in Reiki).
Chi is the energy found all around us as well as internally that provides vitality, strength, harmony and balance. Chi flows to all the systems in the body via Meridians and Chakras, maintaining our health. In accordance with Traditional Chinese Medicine and treatments such as acupuncture, if the flow of the Chi is obstructed we can become imbalanced, lacking in energy and vitality, and eventually unwell. Through the mindful arts of Infinite Tai Chi, Chi Kung and Meditation you can “plug-in to the universal mains” and experience the feeling of being quietly energised, recharged, relaxed and refreshed!
Benefits of Tai Chi, Chi Kung & Meditation include :
- Reduced stress, anxiety and stress-related illnesses
- Learning Mindfulness techniques that help to stabilise your mind, body and emotions
- Reduces physical tension in the muscles and joints, therefore improving physical performance such as balance, posture, flexibility and agility
- Balances the left and right hemispheres in the brain giving the brain a “workout” and increasing its neuroplasticity and your ability to learn new things, your concentration and mental agility
- Helps the body’s systems function more efficiently eg. Digestion, immunity, hormones and cleanses toxins
- Balances the entire central nervous system
- A calmer, quieter, more peaceful mind
- Improved sleep patterns and relief from insomnia
- Increases energy levels in the body and mind
- Improves the body’s ability to heal itself
- Leaves you feeling FANTASTIC, quietly energised and relaxed!
About Infinite Tai Chi
Tai Chi – meaning “grand ultimate”, is an ancient form of mindful movement originally from China and is often called a “moving meditation”. A gentle yet powerful form of exercise, it involves slow, flowing movements that take their inspiration from the perfect balance and harmony found in the natural landscape – such as the sea, trees, mountains and clouds and in living and mythical animals such as the eagle, dragon and phoenix. Also the elements – Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Metal and Wood.
The combination of the graceful movements and the breath allow the physical body, the mind and spirit to relax and open-up – ultimately bringing to light your true potential and authentic self, as well as maintaining and improving your general health and wellbeing.
Infinite Tai Chi is a five-stage contemporary form inspired by traditional tai chi styles and created by my teacher Master Jason Chan – whose courses and retreats I have attended all over the world for nearly 10 years. Originally from Hong Kong and based for many years in the UK, he has trained teachers for more than 25 years.
About Infinite Chi Kung
Cultivate the Chi – Infinite Chi Kung – also written “Qi Gong” – means “Infinite Energy Work” and is a series of nurturing and strengthening warm-up exercises that cultivate the Chi, promote energy flow and provide the foundation for the Tai Chi practice itself. Focussing on the Chakra system, the breath, nature and the elements, the Chi Kung exercises you will learn during my classes include :
- The Golden Sun series
- Butterfly Sweeps
- Meridian Stretches
- Lotus Chi Kung
- Spirals in the Air
- Healing Sounds
About Mindfulness & Meditation
The power and peace of presence…….
“The clock is running. Make the most of today. Time waits for no man. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it is called the present.” ― Alice Morse Earle
“Life is not made up of minutes, hours, days, weeks, months or years – but of moments” – Sarah Ban Breathnach
Have you ever noticed that when you’re doing familiar and repetitive tasks, like driving or walking, that your mind is often miles away thinking about something else and you can barely remember anything about the journey you’ve just taken? This is how much of our lives play out – in a mode of “auto-pilot” – with life spent being caught up in a stream of thinking. Mindfulness and Meditation allows you to “press the pause button” on the manic-mind, have a direct experience of your life and be firmly anchored in the here and now – a mode often referred to simply as “being”. This has enormous benefits for our psychological and physical health and wellbeing and plays a huge part in stress-reduction and the resulting negative symptoms.
Jon Kabat-Zinn – the founder of Mindfulness Based Stress-Reduction (MBSR) – trained for many years alongside highly renowned Buddhists such as Thich Nhat Hanh. He has created techniques for developing a “Mindfulness Muscle” – in the same way you build any muscle through repeated exercise. Through decades of research at the University of Massachusetts, there is now the Neuroscience to back up the profoundly positive physical and psychological results of Mindfulness practice – including increased neuroplasticity and learning capacity in the brain.
Every class and workshop includes at least one meditation – so while you relax with cushions and blankets, I will guide you through my own mini meditations inspired by nature such as “Radiant Butterfly”, “Healing Flame”, “Majestic Mountain”, “Flowing Ocean” and “Loving Kindness”.
Get in touch or visit the Freebies page to sign-up now for a FREE 15 minute Mini-Mindfulness session with me!
“Tai Chi could be prescribed for illnesses”
Studies show that “Tai Chi can improve some physical performance outcomes in four chronic conditions (cancer, osteoarthritis, heart failure and COPD) but not at the expense of worsening pain or dyspnoea (breathlessness).”
– BBC.com article Sept 2015.
Click on the heading above to read the full online article
YOU can cultivate and harness the power of the Chi and relax and recharge your whole system!
I invite you to get in touch and join me at Classes , Workshops and retreats .
Click on links above or go to the drop-down menu to find out about the latest Tai Chi and Meditation Classes and Workshops in Cork.
