Learning qigong happened by accident. Living a fast-paced life as a freelance journalist, the lack of work-life balance began to show as I approached my mid-30s and various issues started to surface. I was desperate for some time out from the hecticness of life and took a low-cost silent meditation retreat in Wales, purely to be quiet and do very little for a week (I wanted to stay a lot longer).

Some around me were surprised given my interest in socialising and conversation. I’d never meditated before. But I absolutely loved the calmness and relief it gave me. On the retreat, we also did qigong every morning (I’d never heard of it) and it felt like leaning into/ allowing my body and mind to do something I hadn’t realised it wanted to do.

The movements felt ‘right’ somehow. After fast-paced long warm ups, I felt like I’d had an amazing massage – so relieved and free physically and mentally. And, after building up repetitions of more traditional, slower qigong forms like pushing mountains, I felt such strong prescence with the world, myself and others. I experienced a magnified ability to connect with the sublime wonders of life. What a gift. And just so easy!

Qigong felt like re-learning and re-training the body to do what we would do if we were fully in flow and connected to the energy of life. In time, it encourages our connection with life and boosts our energy and vibrancy.

I continued going on the retreats and learning more and practising at home, and felt so much better when I did qigong. In 2015 I enrolled on a 2 year in person training course to become a teacher under the guidance of Master Sifu Wing Cheung and his senior instructors. The teachings were wide-ranging theory and practise, and this has stood me in good stead for my own teaching.

I still undertake continued professional development with the college, as well as other trainings to develop my own practise to be able to keep offering quality classes to students.

My journey with qigong and meditation gives me so much more understanding of my own energy, my energy needs and how to achieve more balance. My wellbeing, creativity, physical and mental energy increases significantly after practising.

Qigong and meditation helps different aspects of life feel more meaningful because I can experience them more fully. Qigong helps life feel more manageable. When I do it, and after I’ve done it, I feel the bliss, the joy, the wonder, and have more strength and energy.