Mindfulness & tai chi practice for inner peace, balance and relaxation
Hello, beautiful soul!
I hope you are well. I am sharing with you some mindfulness & tai chi (mindful movement) for your own practice. If you are looking for inner peace, relaxation and strengthening your body and mind. Mindfulness will help you to be more aware of your inner world, together with tai chi it will increase your deep listening to your body wisdom, will help you quieten your mind and improve your balance. Please make sure to warm up first and gently move your body.
If you have any questions, let me know! Enjoy your gentle practice, Natalia
May you be happy,
May you be safe
May you live with ease <3
Ps.
I am sharing with you what have helped me in my emotional and physical balance, but please note that everyone's body is different and no exercise routine should be done without the advice of a doctor and other professional medical and fitness trainers. Always consult your physician regarding the applicability of any recommendations and follow all safety instructions before beginning any exercise program. When participating in any exercise or exercise program, there is the possibility of physical injury. If you engage in this exercise or exercise program, you agree that you do so at your own risk, are voluntarily participating in these activities, assume all risk of injury to yourself.
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Did you know that tai chi is also a martial art?
photo Natalia Krause & Niall O'Floinn international coach
Harmonious Exercise – Tai Chi-meditation in movement
Chen Tai Chi is a beautiful art and a way of living, harmonizing internal with external, an ancient Chinese discipline involving a continuous series of controlled usually slow movements designed to improve physical and mental well-being.
It is universal, uplifting and strengthening for everyone, of every age. Tai Chi can be literally translated as ‘supreme ultimate fist’. My personal experience of it, since 2007, is a constant change that builds up my stillness and strength.
What is important is that despite your level of fitness you can start your training at any time as the warm ups and the relaxing movements stretch and prepare the whole body gradually. You feel refreshed, balanced and content. First classes are designed to relax your body and build up your strength – internally and externally. You begin by learning the spiral movement which is developed through so called silk-reeling exercises. The impulse of the movement always comes from the centre of your body, which remains stable and alert, finding its strength from the legs. The legs and, more importantly, the mind give us our foundation and stability.
The more the mind is relaxed and calm the more our nervous system, and all our internal organs, are ‘content’. The blood flows better and every part of the body is energized. Often the Tai Chi moves are called ‘an internal massage’ and this priceless meditation through movement enables the whole body to derive its strength from the inside out. The practice is like a refreshing part of the day for those whose lifestyles are busy, involving a lot of ‘demanding’ time with children at home or sitting at work in a stressful environment. And also for those with active lifestyles, such as dancers and people who play a lot of sports.
And, what is more, if you are interested in the self-defence part of this system, usually after 3 years of proper training you can learn routines with partners such as push hands and also Tai Chi sword forms (solo routine). The Chinese method teaches you to focus first on ‘getting to know yourself’, feel centred and be relaxed. The more aware of your body and relaxed you are, the better you will progress with your practice. Your sense of balance and stability in yourself will become multiplied, plus you will be able to make good decisions for yourself-out of inner peace rather than fear.
It is often much easier to keep our minds calm while sitting down. When we have to move, get things done, drive here and there it is not always so easy to tame the mind, and keep it from travelling from one thought to other. Tai Chi helps us to find calmness within movement.
This is something I am happy to practice, improving my emotional balance and clarity while being fully engaged with life, with all its impulses and changes.
Movement and stillness co-exist together, they cannot be separated.
I have always been fascinated by a human mind and emotions and how they effect each other. I teach mindfulness principles together with silk reeling exercises and 18 step form, if you would like to bring your practice to the martial arts level and learn sword forms and push hands you can do that at Galway Tai Chi Academy with international coach Niall O'Floinn.
Natalia presenting tai chi sword form in Galway Tai Chi Academy.
Feedback from Natalia's classes & private sessions:
‘Natalia has an in depth of Tai Chi and a wonderful ability to engage with people.
She is a calm and focused person and she creates a positive atmosphere in the work place. She is also warm and highly personable. Natalia is a perfectionist in all that she does and I have no hesitation in recommending her as a Tai Chi instructor’ Anna de Marginy, consultant at In-tuition
‘Tai Chi is very relaxing, more complicated than it looks but an excellent break from the everyday routines. I would recommend it to anyone.’ Patrick Lynch 20yrs
‘I had never done Tai Chi before no had I experienced anything like it. I found that it helped me immensely with relaxing, especially the mind. Natalia was an excellent teacher with an extremely soothing voice. She was encouraging throughout as it is a skill which takes time to perfect’ C. Callanan, 18 yrs old
‘Tai Chi was something that I had never experienced before, however I found it quite enjoyable. I was much more relaxed after the first lesson. I found Natalia to be very patient and relaxed. Although some things I found to be easy and straightforward, other parts of it took time to get used to. Natalia took the time to show us all at our own pace, but covered a lot in each class. Not only did I feel more relaxed after Tai Chi, I felt happier in myself on some level. It was as if all my fears didn’t matter and neither did any bad emotional thoughts that I had experienced in my life in the past. After only a few classes I have learned to centre myself and quite my mind. I would recommend Tai Chi to anyone.’ Rose Mullagh, age 24
'Natalia Krause is a qualified teacher of Chen Tai Chi in the lineage of Sifu Wang Hai Jun, an important contemporary Chinese master. She is a dedicated practitioner of this, the original and most effective of all Tai Chi styles. Natalia is a person of integrity, with additional skills in teaching languages, and the change of limiting beliefs using the kinesiology-based method Psych-k.'
Dr John Stanley
'With her terrific smile and calm personality Natalia Krause humbly engenders an atmosphere in which her students of Tai Chi cannot but excel, and excel further, as they experience not only fun in her class, but a soothing grounding joy.'
Liam Cullinane
'I started attending Tai Chi classes six months ago. It is amazing as I can both learn and relax. I am taught how to balance my body, mind, breath and movement. In the same moment I can feel relaxed. However attending the classes is not only about learning, it is also developing an interest in Tai Chi. Natalia is the kind of teacher who not only teaches us the elements of the form, but also shares her knowledge about the origin of each moves. She can also easily explain the logic of the sequence. In my opinion a good teacher should create a passion for the subject among the students and I think Natalia is a teacher like this. My everyday work is very stressful. Tai Chi makes me calmer and lets me clear my thoughts and brings relief to my tensed muscles.'
Arkadiusz Maruszczak, fund accountant