Combining your Lishi practice with being a parent

Combining your Lishi practice with being a parent

toddler wakes up parents - Lishi Leeds Tai Chi Parenting Kids

Combining your Lishi practice with being a parent

You used to wake up at 6am each morning to practice your forms and improve your own training.

But now you barely get any sleep and you’ve got toddler tantrums, nappies and breakfast to sort out. You can say goodbye to your early morning meditation, me-time and those solid abs….

Actually being a parent is another type of training. But just because there are not enough hours in the day now it doesn’t mean that you have to stop with your training altogether.

Here are 5 suggestions for exercises you can combine with your babysitting 😉 duties:

1. Warm up – Starting the morning with a good warm up sets me up for the day.   I do the warm up and my little one loves to copy along. He doesn’t get everything right but that’s fine, he’s starting to build a physical awareness and is learning the names of the major body parts.

2. Kitchen Stances –  I find a great place to practice stance-work is in the kitchen as I am cooking.  I get the kids to copy along and learn the stances with me, while practicing the qigong in my legs. Frog stance is also great to practice especially if you’re trying to potty train a toddler.

Learning the names of the stances will also give them a head-start when you decide to send them along to the Lishi Leeds Tai Chi Kids Classes

 

3. Swing Evasions – This one is courtesy of my brother Dr Tai Chi. The kids always need a good run around each day – so next time you’re at the park practise Round the Clock or Teacup evasions while pushing the swing. It’s a great way to keep you on your toes and make the evasions work.  Plus the kids find it hilarious!

4. Floor-Work-and Flying Angel – You’re probably finding that you spend more time these days crawling around on the floor putting toys away and crawl chasing your little one.  Remember to use your core muscles and feel the abs work to pull your knees in and reach with the arms. Lifting your toddler over your head as you lie on your back – you can practice the supporting part of the flying angel. I only recommend you do this if you’ve had instruction at a Lishi Qishu class.

5. Virtues – Being a parent is where you really have to test whether you can make the training work outside the hall.  It is a great chance to practice your virtues such as patience and the softest will be the strongest.  It is also a great chance to learn from our little ones – for they demonstrate relentless better than any adult could. Finally remember, “You don’t stop playing because you get old, you get old because you stop playing.” Use this opportunity to enjoy being a kid again and cultivate that playfulness in your parenting and your personal practice.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these tips and if you have any to add then please post them in the comments below.

Lishi Leeds Tai Chi - Meditating child
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5 Tips for Surviving the Winter

5 Tips for Surviving the Winter

Daoist Tips for surviving the winter - Lishi Leeds Tai Chi
5 Tips for Surviving the Winter

This year as soon as 1st November arrived – there was a change in the season brrrrr!

It was like someone had turned on a switch.  Winter had arrived.

We still got the odd day of warmish weather as the season moved from end of autumn to proper winter.  But there is no mistaking the cold damp that seeps into the bones, the nights drawing in and the desire to stay in bed for longer.

The Daoists have long recognised the need to pay attention to the changing of the seasons and so here are 5 Daoist ways to work with the natural changes and help maintain the balance of Yin and Yang this Winter.

    1. Invest in a cosy scarf
      According to Chinese Medicine it is important to protect yourself from pernicious influences such as cold and wind.The back of the neck is particularly vulnerable to wind as it can enter through the acupuncture points here.  This is especially important if you’ve done any exercise and you are sweaty.When your pores open up it increases the risk of Wind invasion if you do not wrap up warm. So make sure you have a good scarf and wear it even if you are hot from exercising.
    2. Make sure you have good quality boots (and slippers)
      TCM also warns against the cold damp entering through the feet. It is important to keep the feet warm with socks and shoes when outside.Even inside, beware of cold floors. A pair of cosy slippers will help prevent the body’s heat being leached out and the cold invading through the soles of your feet.If you suffer from poor circulation and cold feet during the winter months try soaking your feet in hot water before bed. In fact it is worth doing this even if your circulation is fine. Soaking the heat in through your feet helps keep your energy high.Winter is related to the water element and organs associated with this in particular are your Kidney and Bladder.  Warming your feet will help nourish your Kidney energy which is sensitive to the cold during this time.

 

    1. Cook up some warming foods
      As winter is a yin time of the year, it’s important to balance the external cold by eating “warming” yang foods to help activate the blood circulation and keep you well.So forget the cold salads and get some hot and warming stews and soups into you.  Add more root vegetables such as parsnips and sweet potatoes, garlic and ginger, and warming herbs such as rosemary as well as spices such as cinnamon in your cooking to boost your body’s yang.For some good Chang Ming Recipes check out our other blog posts or the Chang Ming Cookbook 
    2. Hibernate!
      As the nights draw in you may feel the urge to cosy up in bed and sleep for longer thank usual.  This is perfectly natural!Our ancestors would have lived their lives much more in accordance to the seasons than we do, due to the lack of artificial light.  Go to sleep earlier and rise with the sun.Sleeping earlier and longer in Winter is important to help nourish your yin, as winter is the season to conserve energy and build strength in the prelude to an active Spring.
    3. Stay active
      The best time to do Yang exercise such as the Lishi Hand of the Wind Kung Fu we teach is when the weather is colder.  These arts are wonderful to help condition and strengthen the body, improve and maintain your cardio-vascular system and boost your overall body temperature and resilience to the cold.Doing the Yang Arts will help boost your circulation and increase your body’s core temperature further supporting your lymphatic and immune system in the cold winter months.
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Tai Chi Stick and Kung Fu Staff

Tai Chi Stick and Kung Fu Staff

Lishi Leeds Tai Chi chee soo stick

Tai Chi Stick and Kung Fu Staff

Lishi is a system that was developed for the physical, spiritual and personal growth of it’s practitioners. It is thousands of years old and was originally practiced by ordinary peasant folk in China.

When people first come to a Lishi class they learn to train with the “empty hand”. It is safer that way until they develop a level of body-awareness, co-ordination and skill.

Teachers at Lishi Leeds Tai Chi quickly develop a student’s ability through the Tai Chi classes learning forms and partner exercises like Pushing Hands.

It is very important to train the “Open Hand” before introducing weapons training.

The most basic implement we use in Lishi is the Tai Chi Stick or Kung Fu Staff. This wooden rod is used as an extension of the hand.

Originally, these were tools that were used in the daily lives of the peasants.  They were used for farming the land and were often found on their person. It made sense that they would use these implements to develop their abilities in Tai Chi and Kung Fu in their daily kungfu training.

There are many examples of indigenous people such as Chinese or Philipino peasants using these simple daily objects when fighting off imperial invaders such as the Japanese in the 1930’s and the Spanish in the 1560’s even though they were up against more sophisticated weapons such as metal swords and sabres.

Fighting off invaders is not the main intention of Lishi Daoist practice. The lessons learned by gaining skills in these implements help us understand ourselves and others. They’re also a lot of fun 🙂

We are running a couple of weekend workshops in June for anyone who would like to get to grips with the ancient moves of Lishi Daoist Stick and Staff work.

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Lishi Wai-Yii on MadeinLeedsTV

Lishi Wai-Yii on MadeinLeedsTV

A Fun Day Filming Lishi Leeds Tai Chi Sword

Each winter I escape the cold of Britain and head to sunny Tenerife to run my Tai Chi, Yoga and Meditation retreats in the sun. This year we were lucky enough to have a film crew in attendance and they very kindly created some beautiful videos of us practising some of the different Arts of Lishi Leeds Tai Chi.

In this video, Lishi Ben and I practise the Tai Chi Sword together.

Watch the video and read the description below and if you feel this is something you’d like to learn, get in touch to register for the next beginners Tai Chi course in Leeds.

Two practitioners of Lishi Tai Chi and Kung Fu meet on the side of a mountain to practise the Art of the Jian Sword.

Balance, dexterity, lightness and co-ordination combine to show how practising the natural movements of Tai Chi, Qigong and Kung Fu can be transformed into a graceful dance of the martial arts.

Working with the Daoist principles of Yin and Yang and flowing like water, this video showcases the grace and exhilaration of Lishi.

To watch more great Lishi videos subscribe to our channel here

or just book on the next beginners course below

TAI CHI, YOGA, MEDITATION AND SELF DEFENCE - BEGINNERS COURSE

lishi leeds tai chi sword
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