NEXT TAI CHI ESSENCE SIX WEEK COURSE:
Thurs 7 JAN - 11 FEB 2021
Online each Thursday 5-6.15pm GMT (originally advertised as 3-4.15)*
Cost £80 (concessions available email Angus)
*The time has been changed from 3-4.15 to 5-6.15 because it suits a greater number of people.

MONTHLY GRADUATE MEETS:
14 Jan + 11 Feb 3.30-4.30pm
 Cost £8 per session
These meets act as a space and place for people to stay connected and develop their tai chi together
after having completed the six week course.

About the Tai Chi Essence six week course...
​I am offering the Tai Chi Essence course to introduce / reintroduce you to key moves and key principles at the heart of the tai chi. Through six one hour weekly sessions you will learn my series of key moves which, in their simplicity and depth, enable close exploration of all aspects of tai chi practice.

Each week key moves will be introduced, principles explored and new moves added so over our time together we will build up to practicing the complete Tai Chi Essence set. (Each session will be recorded so that you will be able to build up a valuable bank of learning material).

Throughout the course, and particularly between each session, you will be encouraged to practice, play and enquire into your own tai chi. These moves offer a perfect opportunity for learning to pay attention, in each moment, allowing your mind to settle, and to focus simply on what is happening in your body - muscle, bone, flow, breath, movement, stillness.

You'll be encouraged to seek out times and spaces to practice, finding those that work best for you and sometimes even in the smallest moments.

My hope is that by attending the course over six weeks you will develop a new and/or deeper understanding and insight into the essence of tai chi and that you will re-establish or develop new and positive habits in your own tai chi practice, which will take you further and onward.

Each session will be recorded so that you will be able to build up a valuable bank of learning material.
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What is Tai Chi Essence?
Tai Chi Essence is a way that you can learn, explore and fully experience Tai Chi by working with some key processes and just a few moves. In this way you learn everything you need to know for a rich and rewarding exploration into tai chi.

If you already practice a tai chi form then Tai Chi Essence will bring you depth, meaning, strength in your movement.
If you are new to the art, then it's the best place to start as it gives you the basic vocabulary of movements and principles.
 
5 Key Processes: 
​Freeing; Aligning; Focusing; Sensing; Being
My approach to learning Tai Chi is built around developing 5 Key Processes. It is by working with these processes that you gain an understanding of what's inside tai chi and how it works. This means that as you practice, your tai chi has the chance to take shape and  emerge in a natural and strong way. 

It's all about movement .....
You start by exploring the body's mechanics, connections and alignments;
you look for the integration of your posture from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet;
you relax muscle around bone and investigate their relationship; you learn how and where to direct your attention and why;
you learn how to release unwanted tensions - often by cultivating an interest in simple things like
'where's the weight in my feet?'
'is there some tension that I can release in my feet, my foot, my toes, my toe ...?'
You explore the feeling of movement.
We're born to move. Or rather, we are born moving.
Tai Chi brings a natural type of movement that is based on momentum, on flow.

Momentum, flow, connection, alignment .....

You'll notice how this exploration impacts on how you feel and perhaps you'll come across a sense of how
mind and body are interwoven.

​As well as connecting in yourself and connecting with Nature, Tai Chi Essence introduces you to ways of connecting with people.
You can read more about this on the Pushing Hands page.

The Natural connection
Tai Chi helps you to connect with something very simple and natural.....you.
Or perhaps it's better to say that Tai Chi connects you with 'you' in a way that is simple and natural.

And as you connect with your own nature, you may notice how Tai Chi is connecting you with a
feeling of being part of the bigger Nature. 
In my own practice I notice how some days the tai chi becomes my way of joining with and appreciating nature.
With a river, a tree, a piece of land, a feeling of air, a bird ...... 
So then there is a whole incentive for practicing outside in the elements.

In the Tai Chi Essence there are no long sequences, just the key moves and processes that make up a 'set' once learned.
This means that it's an ideal pathway for furthering your development and understanding of the beauty of tai chi.
(The one 'form' that you'll learn is the Mountain Top Qigong - a short and sweet little piece.)

Energy, rhythm, flow - everyone can experience it ....
Each move is learned and then played so that
the energy builds as you move, in a similar way to how a dynamo builds energy.

It is this rhythmic, ongoing energy-building movement that is so refreshing and restorative.
The massage of the vital organs cleanses the body and releases your vital energy for living.

You can play just one move for 2, 3, 5, 15 or even 20 minutes.

As you get to know these individual moves and postures, 
you'll find that they join seamlessly together as a flow.