Beginners Classes
These exercises are for students who are beginning their Tai Chi journey. They are easy to follow and are safe to do indoors or outside. Just make sure you have enough room around you and that you are on a stable surface, particularly when balancing on one foot.
PLEASE NOTE: Under each video title is an ‘Intro’ length in brackets. This is for those people who want to skip past the ‘bla, bla, bla and get right into the exercise. Especially if you want to repeat the moves at another time.
Many of my students have favourite exercises and prefer some over others. Personally, working on a computer for most of the day I make sure to take regular breaks and do Chen Ba Chun.
Lesson 1. Chen Ba Chun
(Intro 50sec)
Welcome to our first lesson together at Tai Chi at Home. Join me for regular exercises that will bring health, relaxation and a greater sense of wellbeing.
In this session we will do some warmups and stretches before running through a simple exercise you can do every day at home or in your office – Chen Ba Chun is something I try to do twice a day with my colleagues.
Lesson 2. Lotus Breathing Pattern
(Intro: 1:28sec)
Lesson two takes us outdoors as we take part in the Lotus Breathing Pattern. A beautiful, relaxing journey that comes with a story of growth and new life. I hope that you can continue with me on our Tai Chi journey together and add the Lotus Breathing pattern to your repertoire. All of the beginner exercises are designed for you to follow at home and can be done more than once a day.
Lesson 3. The 5 Immune Boosters
The 5 Immune Boosters are a Qigong (health) exercise.
We begin with Jam Jong – 8 slow breaths
(Take a healing breath in between each move – Each exercise eight times)
1. Lymph Pump
2. Quan Yin Paints a Rainbow
3. Yin Yang Breathing
5. Flying Stance
Lesson 4. Ba Duan Jin
(Eight Fine Exercises)
1. Press the Sky (Regulates the internal organs)
2. Draw Back the Bow (Strengthens the immune system by opening the chest)
3. Pluck the Stars (Strengthens the stomach and spleen)
4. Cow Turns to Gaze at the Moon (Strengthens the digestive system and spine)
5. Painting Rainbows (Cools excess heat in the body)
6. Willow Bends in the Wind (Strengthens the kidneys and loins)
7. Punching in Horse Stance (Increases Chi)
8. Shake the Body (Wards off illness)
Lesson 5. Yang 8
The Yang 8 is a great introduction to Tai Chi and it is a stepping stone to the popular Yang 24 form.
These simple moves form the bedrock of many of the advanced Tai Chi forms and with patience can be memorised and practised in less than three minutes. As we are all at a different stage of our Tai Chi journey be patient, keep breathing and give yourself the time you need to refine the form.
Valuable Lesson!
Meet Fritz, the Tai Chi Schnauzer
Not everything goes to plan when your dog is also directing the video productions…
Especially at his dinner time!
360 degree Balance Exercise
(Intro: 1:42sec)
This is a 360 video so you can click on the screen and move the camera up and down.
Balance is such an important factor for us at every stage in our lives.. from a wobbling toddler to teetering senior – and everyone in between.
What we sometimes forget is that balance is just another skill we can imporive through practice. In this video we take you through some really simple exercises to help improve your balance.