The Dragon's Head Blog

I took part in the danyu challenge and did over 2,500. I really enjoyed doing it and all my aches and pains vanished. One night just after I had completed the challenge I tripped over my big labrador dog and fell flat on my face. I am 65. I lay a minute waiting to see […]

In the beginning of the Corona lockdown I felt stressed and unsettled. In some ways, I was busier than ever with my family, struggling with limited energy, leaving me less and fragmented time to practice.  Participating for the first time in the “Chanting for the World” immediately calmed me down and made me very quiet. […]

I work in an Epidemiology Department so, from the very beginning, the lock-down found me in so called smart working, meaning working at home with a big load, many hours a day, seven days a week. Tense and tired, I started practicing foundations, every now and then during the day, just to stretch and slow […]

Personal practice during the quarantine I have been practicing Taoist Tai Chi for almost three years. I won’t list the myriad benefits it has given me, in terms of both physical and mental health and the changes in my life, as it would take too long to list them all. During confinement, I continued to […]

I would like to say a big “thank you” for the Chanting sessions on Zoom.  My Tai Chi journey started in October 2018 when I went along to my first beginners class. I found it challenging to maintain my practice since the classes were paused.  I have had the time to be able to reflect […]

When you practice by yourself, there’s no-one else to rely on – you have to be your own instructor! My lovely instructors both said ‘Find a move or something to improve, and make it your Tai Chi Lockdown Challenge’! I decided that mine would be to learn the entire set!  Although I have been practicing for […]

Prioritizing health and safety during the time of Covid-19, participants practicing “together apart” find strength and joy.

The first time I practiced Tai Chi I overwhelmed my instructors with questions: why you do it like this, why you do it like that? It took some time for me to understand that perfection of and in the movement is not the goal. I have been patiently taught to imitate, listen, trust, make mistakes, […]

As I practice during this lockdown I’ve learnt some amazing things. First, to let go, something I thought I had already achieved! Being told to self-isolate after returning home from Brazil, and then going into lockdown made me so very cross, as I had already been doing tai chi on my own for some time […]

After a difficult time at the beginning of the lockdown, despite practicing every day, I was washed over by stress and fear. I hung on dan yus, tor yus and our instructors’ encouragement. Over the weeks and keeping practicing, I realized with the lockdown how retreats, intensives and classes make Taoist Tai ChiTM arts a […]

The first 5 weeks of the dan yu challenge were particularly testing as I had sustained injuries to my left knee and left shoulder (unrelated to tai chi practice). I persevered with dan yus whilst trying to listen and feel what was happening. During week 6, whilst doing a Tai Chi set at home, I […]

I have always known that Tai Chi works miracles on my health, but during this lockdown I have rediscovered its benefits in a more in-depth way, thanks to the perseverance in practising almost every day. After two months, I feel that my physical and mental health has enormously benefited from it! Initially, I could not […]

Taoist Tai Chi® arts – my saviour Being introduced to Tai Chi by a friend was the beginning of a very positive chapter of my life. Needing two hip replacements did not make it easy to exercise. However, with Tai Chi I found both a physical and mental improvement. The slow and intense movement helped me focus […]

This is a thank you for giving us such rich guidance during this time of self cultivation. The chanting sessions on Sat. mornings are such an opportunity for coming together with common purpose and the discussions have opened up much more about taoism than I had ever imagined. This in turn has been very helpful in […]

During the early days of “Stay home, protect the NHS, Save lives” my feelings of concern, uncertainty and worry were quite strong (due to being categorized in a vulnerable group). However, I was very soon directed to the invitation to “do 50 dan yus a day for 50 days” which helped shift my focus and […]

I usually go in the garden and try to find a flat spot amidst the tussocks. I’m very careful to start in a good position, remembering how to stand and very important to be relaxed, body first and then quieting my mind. Sometimes I just stand and at others I do some foundations, again taking […]

Steve Spathelf, Dunedin’s famous orange artist, returns to the International Center Florida to undertake the restoration of the resident lions. These lions started their life as guardians at the entrance of the International Centre at Orangeville, Ontario, Canada, but after many severe winters they were relocated to sunny Florida. Now they await the opportunity to greet […]

  I use the different rooms in the house for my tai chi practice – The loft room… holding on the bannister I do snakes. Standing in front of large mirror in the bedroom… I can check on what I’m actually doing with the Tor Yus and the foundation exercises, interspersed with Dan Yus. The […]

  The first couple of months of 2020 had brought a number of difficult issues for close friends and family, all of whom  looked to me for physical and emotional support. Each one needed totally different skills and all together were a difficult mix. But, having discovered Taoist Tai Chi a couple of years ago, […]

Since  ‘chanting for the world’ on Saturday, I’ve been thinking about the new challenge of engaging consistently with my practice. I am lucky that I have space both inside and out, but I am limited by time. I definitely want to do some tai chi before the working day starts, but it keeps getting dropped. I […]