This is a blog about tai chi classes in Bramhall, Walkden, Wigan and Leigh. I post updates about classes and other events you might be interested in.
Outdoor classes are less formal than the indoor classes — there will be no teaching as such, we are just going to warm up and run through a few forms together.
Although the weather has been iffy lately the forecast is good for this week.
The summer timetable is now live on my website. Some classes are continuing from last term but there are new things starting up.
On Tuesday mornings in Leigh we will be going through the Yang style 8 step form from the start: great for beginners but also as a refresher or if you are unfamiliar with this popular short form.
On Wednesday afternoons in Hindley we will be doing the Classic Ba Duan Jin qigong form. This is slightly simpler than the Health Qigong version but is a powerful set of exercises.
And on Thursday evenings in Bryn we will be starting the Yang style 24 step form. This is the most popular form all over the world. It was structured in the 1950s by Grandmaster Li Tianji, Master Faye Yip’s great uncle. The classes will be suitable for all levels from beginners to advanced.
It has been so lovely the past couple of years to get out and do tai chi in the parks, and this is something that I want to continue with. So from 4 July, daytime classes will all be outside. They will be less formal than the indoor classes: rather than learning a form a move at a time, we will get warmed up and then just go through a few tai chi and qigong forms together.
I hope there is something here that takes your fancy and I look forward to playing tai chi and qigong with you.
Over the bank holiday weekend I finally caught up with the "Just One Thing" episode that my brother and Mike told me about. I'm really glad I did. I've always known about the benefits of tai chi from first-hand experience but it is good to have them validated.
The podcast is actually about standing on one leg, and the benefits are amazing. As Dr Michael Mosley says: "Improving your balance really can have a life changing impact. It improves core strength, posture and coordination. Do that and you are more likely to walk upright rather than hunched, which will make you look younger and might even improve your mood. There's even research showing that balance is a great predictor of healthy life expectancy."
He asked Professor Dawn Skelton of Glasgow Caledonian University whether tai chi would work as well and this was her response: "Tai chi is one of the best activities to improve your balance. It's slow and controlled; it's three-dimensional so your head moves at different times to the rest of your body; you get all that feedback from the joints because it's slow and controlled. It's one of the best things to help prevent your first fall... really is a lot of evidence for that."
I always tell people that you don't have to stand on one leg to do tai chi. You can improve your balance and coordination just by paying attention to your posture and being aware of where your weight is.
Standing on one leg is a simple thing that you can do at home. Tai chi has all the health and wellbeing benefits of that and more: it can reduce stress, increase energy, and improve focus and inner calm. And if you join a class you get the social benefits as well. There is nothing quite like the feeling of being in a group moving and breathing as one.
