Badock’s Wood Academy is our new location for Taoist Tai Chi classes at which you will experience benefits to your body, mind, and spirit, make friends and listen to remarkable stories of health improvement. Our hope is that each person leaves with a renewed conviction that they can make a real positive difference in their own health and with a clear sense of how to go about it. We run beginner courses and ongoing classes on Mondays at 7 pm.
The ancient Chinese believed that true health comes when body, mind and spirit work together in harmony and Taoist Tai Chi grew out of this tradition. It involves deep stretching with a full range of motion and continuous turning of the spine. It exercises the whole physiology including muscular, skeletal, and circulatory systems, as well as tendons, joints, connective tissue and organs. Rather than depending on tension and the development of hard muscle tissue, these movements develop a body that is relaxed and strong at the deepest levels. The gentle internal movements are balanced throughout the body and have a calming effect on the mind, often called a moving meditation.
We are part of the Taoist Tai Chi Society of Great Britain (a registered charity and a branch of the International Society). All our instructors are volunteers with more than 500 locations in over 27 countries. The Society brings together people of different languages and cultures in a world-wide community. Young and old alike enjoy the friendly and welcoming nature of the Society. Edith, a member from Staple Hill said: “I enjoy the companionship and meeting other people. It has helped me with my balance and reduced the stress. My back is not stiff anymore so I am now able to do things I couldn’t do before. I have been doing Tai Chi for twelve years and it has helped me keep flexible”.
The Society was set up by Master Moy Lin Shin in 1970 in Toronto, Canada. He devoted his life to learning and practising Taoism and the Taoist arts. As a youth he suffered from serious health problems. Through the Taoist arts he was able to fully recover his health. Inspired by this, he spent his life helping others and make them accessible and beneficial to everyone, regardless of their physical condition.
We offer your first class for free – just turn up! (7 pm, Badock’s Wood Academy, Doncaster Road, BS10 5PU). More info at taoist.org.uk