While travelling abroad, I became fascinated with Taoist philosophy. There exists a long history of movement and exercise systems associated with Taoism. Tai Chi is deeply connected with Taoist philosophy and notions. This is illustrated in the Chinese works Tao Te Ching and I Ching. I’m based in Sedgefield on the Garden Route. Visit us for a Tai Chi introduction class.

After returning home, I was fortunate to find a teacher, Grandmaster Dr Lin Feng-Chao. His teacher was Cheng Man-Ching. I began practising in my early 20s, and now 30 years later, I realise the amazing benefits I have gained from the daily practice of Tai Chi.

At work, if stressed, I often head outside and practice some Tai Chi. Work colleagues would notice me practising and ask if they could join in. They were soon asking me during office hours if I could run another class at lunch because they were feeling stressed. This lead me to dive deeper into the health and meditation benefits of Tai Chi. In my journey, I came across the work done by Google on their ‘Search Inside Yourself’ course. I found their research fascinating, especially with regard to the 6 key traits of a good software engineer. It turned out that two were IQ and the remaining 4 were emotional intelligence. What is mind-blowing is that emotional intelligence is trainable through the practice of meditation. This lead me to explore the value of Tai Chi more and build a mindfulness program at Jumo for not only the engineers.

Tai Chi trains one to calm the mind on demand and return it to a natural state of happiness. Deepen self-awareness in a way that fosters self-confidence, which harnesses empathy and compassion. These are valuable traits for outstanding leadership. Builds highly productive collaborations based on trust and transparent communication in the workplace.

It’s time for me to teach, as highlighted in Taoist literature. “When you cultivate internal energy [Dantian], it accumulates within. But there is one odd thing. You cannot hold it forever. If you try, it will destroy you. If you use it prudently to heal others, to teach others, to comfort others, the energy will surge back stronger and stronger.”

If you would like to find out more about Tai Chi or are interested in a free Tai Chi Introduction Class, please contact me. In just one hour, you can immediately start benefiting from just a few simple moves.

I’m based in Sedgefield on the Garden Route.