Article written by Julie Barker TCHI Senior Instructor
The Tai Chi for Health Institute was founded in 2010 by Dr Lam and many of his Tai Chi for Health colleagues with the purpose of empowering people to improve health and wellness through the Tai Chi for Health programs. In 1974, the founder Dr Lam, a former family physician in Sidney Australia, and arthritis sufferer took up tai chi to overcome his condition. In 2013, The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention recommended Dr Lam’s programme and today, many governmental departments around the world endorse them. Dr Lam and his team of experts have researched and developed accessible tai chi forms targeting a range of conditions including: arthritis, osteoporosis, diabetes, heart conditions, memory and more….
With falls prevention and health and wellbeing in mind the courses can be taught seated and standing and they allow participants to access the classes at all abilities and showing great improvements in time. Using slow, gentle movements, that help improve; strength and balance, confidence, lower blood pressure and improve the mood.
You don’t have to have a specific condition to access the classes. However, many people leave it until they are diagnosed with a condition before they attend. You are never too young or too well to start tai chi and you are never too old. Many people wish they had started sooner and the sooner you start the better grounding you will have as you grow older and start experiencing those ailments.
Julie Barker and Jane Gordon have been running TCHI classes for 8 years and have recently been invited and accepted as senior instructors. For Julie the tai chi has helped her improve her strength and flexibility, reduce pain and have less dependence on a mobility scooter. Whereas Jane has found the mind/ body connection beneficial, helping to reduce anxiety and with daily practice it sets her up for the day in what can be a stressful job as company secretary.
The Tai Chi for Health Institute is a not-for-profit organisation that not only empowers people to improve their health and wellness through the Tai Chi for Health programs, but also monitors the quality and standards of the training and to provide support for instructors.
As well as their weekly community classes, Julie and Jane are now running the TCHI instructor Hub for the East Midlands and are organising instructor training programmes around twice a year. Master Trainers from Europe, Australia and USA deliver one- or two-day courses at Petersham Community Hall, Long Eaton. This is an amazing opportunity for the East Midlands and existing instructors in the area to access the training on the doorstep.
To become an instructor, you can register for a workshop on the TCHI website, where you will receive an online Self-paced Instructor Preparation Package (SIPP), with around 20 hours of self-help training. Once you have completed the SIPP, you qualify for the in-person training. Are you a health professional who is looking to increase your range of knowledge and practical skills or a tai chi student who would like to share the benefits of playing tai chi to others?
